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Alberta

Hospitality Association grateful, but desperate for clarity on provincial health restrictions

Published

3 years ago

3 minute read

News release from the AHA (Alberta Hospitality Association)

ALBERTA HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO THE ALBERTA GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

While the announcements made by the Alberta Government today were a move in the right direction it still leaves the hospitality industry in a precarious position with many within the industry feeling unclear and frustrated.

We have already received a high volume of inquiries to our association from operators voicing feedback from customers because of the lack of clear communication in today’s press conference. It is evident that the general public and the media do not fully understand how businesses in the hospitality industry have been, and will continue to be, impacted until all restrictions are lifted.

The hospitality industry wants an understanding as to why REP would be lifted before other restrictions such as table capacity, curfew and approved socializing and events throughout our operations. Removal of REP without loosening additional restrictions will continue to see operators enduring huge losses daily.

There is no data to support, or deny, that the curfew had any influence on the spread of covid with this current variant as there was no testing or contact tracing in the province. Moving forward with no testing or tracing AHA wants assurance that the hospitality industry will not continue to be targeted.

For several months AHA along with key stakeholders in the hospitality industry have requested meetings with the Alberta Government to discuss the dire status of our sector, insight of a plan moving forward and support to help ensure businesses can stop hemorrhaging money and retain the hard working staff that have now been put through five targeted closures.

To move forward confidently with the second level of restrictions lifting and avoid another closure or reinforced restrictions we ask for:

● A clear understanding of what the actual metrics and benchmarks the government requires to move into phase 2.

● Clarity about which additional restrictions will be lifted in phase 2 specific to the hospitality industry as the government website currently does not provide any information.

● A clear plan of provincial support for the hospitality industry which was unfairly targeted with closures during the fifth wave of restrictions.

The AHA is once again requesting a hospitality specific round table with decision makers within government which include Premier Kenney, Doug Schweitzer (Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation), and Jason Copping (Minister of Health), along with our key stakeholders to discuss the current reopening plan, the effects the industry has faced over the last two years, and how we can legitimately move forward successfully.

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Alberta

Alberta takes big step towards shorter wait times and higher quality health care

Published on April 9, 2025

By

From the Fraser Institute

By Nadeem Esmail

On Monday, the Smith government announced that beginning next year it will change the way it funds surgeries in Alberta. This is a big step towards unlocking the ability of Alberta’s health-care system to provide more, better and faster services for the same or possibly fewer dollars.

To understand the significance of this change, you must understand the consequences of the current (and outdated) approach.

Currently, the Alberta government pays a lump sum of money to hospitals each year. Consequently, hospitals perceive patients as a drain on their budgets. From the hospital’s perspective, there’s little financial incentive to serve more patients, operate more efficiently and provide superior quality services.

Consider what would happen if your local grocery store received a giant bag of money each year to feed people. The number of items would quickly decline to whatever was most convenient for the store to provide. (Have a favourite cereal? Too bad.) Store hours would become less convenient for customers, alongside a general decline in overall service. This type of grocery store, like an Alberta hospital, is actually financially better off (that is, it saves money) if you go elsewhere.

The Smith government plans to flip this entire system on its head, to the benefit of patients and taxpayers. Instead of handing out bags of money each year to providers, the new system—known as “activity-based funding”—will pay health-care providers for each patient they treat, based on the patient’s particular condition and important factors that may add complexity or cost to their care.

This turns patients from a drain on budgets into a source of additional revenue. The result, as has been demonstrated in other universal health-care systems worldwide, is more services delivered using existing health-care infrastructure, lower wait times, improved quality of care, improved access to medical technologies, and less waste.

In other words, Albertans will receive far better value from their health-care system, which is currently among the most expensive in the world. And relief can’t come soon enough—for example, last year in Alberta the median wait time for orthopedic surgeries including hip and knee replacements was 66.8 weeks.

The naysayers argue this approach will undermine the province’s universal system and hurt patients. But by allowing a spectrum of providers to compete for the delivery of quality care, Alberta will follow the lead of other more successful universal health-care systems in countries such as Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland and create greater accountability for hospitals and other health-care providers. Taxpayers will get a much better picture of what they’re paying for and how much they pay.

Again, Alberta is not exploring an untested policy. Almost every other developed country with universal health care uses some form of “activity-based funding” for hospital and surgical care. And remember, we already spend more on health care than our counterparts in nearly all of these countries yet endure longer wait times and poorer access to services generally, in part because of how we pay for surgical care.

While the devil is always in the details, and while it’s still possible for the Alberta government to get this wrong, Monday’s announcement is a big step in the right direction. A funding model that puts patients first will get Albertans more of the high-quality health care they already pay for in a timelier fashion. And provide to other provinces an example of bold health-care reform.

Nadeem Esmail

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
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Alberta

Alberta’s embrace of activity-based funding is great news for patients

Published on April 9, 2025

By

From the Montreal Economic Institute

Alberta’s move to fund acute care services through activity-based funding follows best practices internationally, points out an MEI researcher following an announcement made by Premier Danielle Smith earlier today.

“For too long, the way hospitals were funded in Alberta incentivized treating fewer patients, contributing to our long wait times,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, director of research at the MEI. “International experience has shown that, with the proper funding models in place, health systems become more efficient to the benefit of patients.”

Currently, Alberta’s hospitals are financed under a system called “global budgeting.” This involves allocating a pre-set amount of funding to pay for a specific number of services based on previous years’ budgets.

Under the government’s newly proposed funding system, hospitals receive a fixed payment for each treatment delivered.

An Economic Note published by the MEI last year showed that Quebec’s gradual adoption of activity-based funding led to higher productivity and lower costs in the province’s health system.

Notably, the province observed that the per-procedure cost of MRIs fell by four per cent as the number of procedures performed increased by 22 per cent.

In the radiology and oncology sector, it observed productivity increases of 26 per cent while procedure costs decreased by seven per cent.

“Being able to perform more surgeries, at lower costs, and within shorter timelines is exactly what Alberta’s patients need, and Premier Smith understands that,” continued Mrs. Wittevrongel. “Today’s announcement is a good first step, and we look forward to seeing a successful roll-out once appropriate funding levels per procedure are set.”

The governments expects to roll-out this new funding model for select procedures starting in 2026.

* * *

The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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