New surgeries mostly aimed at Alberta private for-profit clinics despite higher costs

Alberta Liberal MLA Kevin Taft says the provincial government is moving more towards a “Calgary” model for privately delivered public health services. Taft says under the former Capital Health Authority, Edmonton had a highly successful publicly delivered service that was cheaper and more efficient than their Calgary counterparts. However, to relieve a backlog of surgeries, the Alberta government is spending $8 million, most of which will go to Calgary’s for-profit clinics. Edmonton’s public hospitals got a fraction of the new work. About 750 cataract surgeries were awarded to private facilities in Calgary while Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital is funded for 175 such surgeries. 180 hip and knee surgeries will be done at the for-profit Health Resource Centre in Calgary, while only 37 will be done in Edmonton’s public hospital.  Alberta Health Services says the for-profit hip and knee surgeries cost $14,000 each compared to $4,500 at the public hospital, but claim unexplained “hidden costs” are in the public model. Perhaps those “hidden costs” are bad PR for the for-profits.