Province establishes Assisted Living Alberta as final public health agency replacing AHS

The Alberta government has named Assisted Living Alberta as the last of four new public agencies taking over provincial health care from Alberta Health Services.

Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon says the new agency is to be officially operational in April.

Nixon says it will be responsible for a number of services, including continuing and assisted care and home care.

He says there are over 800,000 seniors in the province, and the need for assisted living and other care programs is expected to increase significantly over the next few years.

The announcement comes after the province named Recovery Alberta, Primary Care Alberta and Acute Care Alberta as the other agencies taking over from AHS.

AHS will still be responsible for a majority of hospitals in the province but will report to Acute Care Alberta.

Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, told CBC News the government's focus on its "chaotic" restructuring of health care instead of solving the issues in seniors' care is frustrating to watch.

"They could be acting right now to address the issues that seniors are talking about, that the front-line workforce are talking about," he said. "Instead, they're determined to plow ahead with this restructuring plan rather than actually looking at the fact that Alberta seniors aren't getting the care they deserve in these facilities."

The province has provided no solutions to address capacity or staffing issues, Gallaway says, adding the government appears to think restructuring in and of itself will solve the problems facing the health-care system.

"The minister talked a lot today about how it's going to be simpler … what they're doing isn't improving the patient experience, it's making confusion for the workforce," Gallaway said. "We're asking for the details. If there is a plan, what is it?"