A video from October 2021 shows Danielle Smith discussing how the Alberta government could sell hospitals to private operators to increase efficiency and savings.
Specifically, Smith refers to auditing the Alberta Health Quality Council to determine if Alberta Health Services should continue operating hospitals.
“If they can’t meet the terms we want them to, we can do (a request for proposal), and then the Alberta Health Services can give a different contract to a different group of doctors…to run all of our hospitals,” comments Smith in the video.
Since the video surfaced, Smith has publicly stated that she will not privatize hospitals. Smith alleges that her UCP government would continue contracting surgeries to private facilities, not acute hospital operations.
“We will contract out surgeries where it makes sense, and we will not privatize the hospitals that are under the umbrella of Alberta Health Services,” said Smith.
Health care is a major issue for voters in the ongoing election. But this is not the first comment Smith has made to raise concerns about the province’s health care.
In several interviews and a damning policy paper from 2021, Smith suggests Albertans pay out-of-pocket for medically insured services, including visits to a family doctor.
“My view is that the entire budget for general practitioners should be paid for from health spending accounts,” Smith writes in her policy paper.
When asked if she stands by or disavows these comments, Smith refused to answer. Instead, she highlighted a recently signed 10-year, $24 billion health care agreement with Ottawa.
This deal upholds the principles of the Canada Health Act, Canada’s federal legislation for publicly funded health care insurance.
“One of those main principles is no one pays out-of-pocket for a family doctor, and no one pays for hospital services. That’s in writing,” said Smith.
NDP health critic David Shepherd points out that Smith has had many opportunities to disavow her plan but hasn’t.
“When we proposed universal coverage for prescription birth control, Smith said Albertans should pay out-of-pocket for private health insurance,” Shepherd told The Canadian Press.
In response, Smith asks why the NDP charged $40 daily for addiction treatment beds when it was in power from 2015 to 2019.
Earlier in April, Smith issued a public health guarantee: “No Albertan will ever have to pay out of pocket for access to their family doctor or to get the medical treatment that they need.”
Her past comments suggest otherwise. For an issue as important as health care, we need to know where Smith stands before election day, not after.
