EDMONTON — The Alberta government is proposing legislation that would accelerate approvals of private clinics in order to get more surgeries done.
It’s one of the changes proposed in the Health Statutes Amendment Act, which has been introduced in the house by Health Minister Tyler Shandro.
The bill would reduce what Shandro calls needless administrative duplication to get these clinics approved and complete more surgeries, such as those to remove cataracts, while still being paid for under the public health system.
Shandro says the approval process currently can take up to two years and the red tape is a holdover from a time when there wasn’t one central health authority overseeing front-line care.
The legislation would also allow different ways for physicians to be paid rather than just the current fee-for-service model.
And it would increase the number of public members on health professional college committees to 50 per cent from 25 per cent.
