Hoffman Continuing the Culture of Secrecy at AHS Around Performance Measures


EDMONTON, AB (January 26, 2016): Despite NDP promises to improve transparency in Alberta’s health care system, AHS has failed to post health care performance measures that were due at the end of Sept. 2015, the Wildrose Official Opposition said today.

AHS still hasn’t publically reported its Q2 (July – Sept.) performance measures. At nearly 5 months overdue – AHS has fallen behind by more than one full quarter in its commitment to report these figures.

“Minister Hoffman said she was going to make AHS more transparent, but this agency is more expensive and less accountable than ever before under her watch,” Wildrose Leader Brian Jean said. “Albertans deserve to know whether all the extra money she’s pouring into AHS is creating any benefits for patients, or whether it’s just simply evaporating into the bureaucracy.”

Wildrose Shadow Health Minister Drew Barnes said what doesn’t get publically measured, doesn’t get addressed, so it’s disappointing to see the NDP take these accountability and transparency measures so lightly.

“The former government reduced the number of performance measures AHS publicly reported on, but the overall level of accountability has never been worse than it is now under the NDP,” Barnes said. “We have no idea where we sit as a province with respect to wait times and outcomes for patients. Even if we received those numbers today, they’d be a full quarter out of date. It’s unacceptable.”