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Cancer care, tissue and organ donations to fall under Acute Care Alberta later this year

Apr 10, 2025 | 12:26 PM

Cancer care, as well as organ and tissue donation and transplantation, will soon be overseen by Acute Care Alberta, the latest move in the Government of Alberta’s efforts to overhaul health care.

The government says the move will occur later this year and that the specialized focus “will ensure the best care in these key areas that are important for a high-functioning health care system.”

Officials say over half of all Albertans will have cancer at some point during their lifetime and the government is committed to ensuring the best quality of care for those diagnosed.

“Integrating cancer care and organ and tissue services under Acute Care Alberta helps ensure Albertans receive the high-quality, coordinated care they deserve – delivered when and where they need it most,” commented Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange.

Alberta recently invested $800 million over eight years into a cancer innovation partnership with Siemens Healthineers and the Alberta Cancer Foundation. The investment is intended to update oncology treatment equipment, leverage artificial intelligence, create two centres of excellence in cancer care and establish a medical research and innovation fund to attract and retain global talent.

Acute Care Alberta will enable Cancer Care Alberta to focus on providing treatment and services for those with cancer. Cancer Care Alberta will then have enhanced oversight and the responsibility for managing its workforce, capital and operational funding. It will also need to establish a dedicated process to address complaints.

“This underscores the critical importance of cancer care for all Albertans,” said Brenda Hubley, chief program officer for Cancer Care Alberta. “This approach will enable us to address the issues facing cancer care in Alberta today and grow a best-in-class cancer system that ensures Albertans receive the cancer care they expect and deserve.”

Hundreds of Albertans receive an organ or tissue transplant each year, the government says, adding that a single donor can improve the lives of up to 75 people.

By moving policy and oversight for these processes under Acute Care Alberta, the provincial government intends to streamline them, allowing for a dedicated plan, program development and vision. Clinical services, however, will remain with Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Government officials add that proposed legislative changes intended to support the refocusing of the health care system are expected to be tabled this spring.

Friends of Medicare released a statement in response to the announcement, citing concern that no details were provided to explain how this move would improve patient care or reduce “unacceptably long” cancer treatment wait times.

“The announced changes do nothing to improve wait times for cancer care in Alberta. Instead, the government remains narrowly focused on their destructive plan to blow apart our public health care system, with no evidence that anything they are doing will improve health care access for Albertans,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.

In October 2024, the Calgary chapter of Friends of Medicare wrote to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, asking a series of questions about the government’s plans for the new Arthur J. E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, including what equipment it will have available and how it will be staffed.

The organization said those questions still have not been answered, and it does not feel they were addressed in Budget 2025. The new centre is seven times the size of the former Tom Baker Cancer Centre, the group said, insisting that a plan, timeline and appropriate funding is needed to get the facility fully staffed and operational.

Friends of Medicare also pointed to the mention of proposed legislative changes as a “potentially ominous sign for what’s still to come,” as there was no accompanying explanation as to what is still required to finalize restructuring or what the legislation may empower the government to do.

Gallaway said, “More legislation, more agencies, more CEOs, more restructuring announcements, more private contracts. None of this is helping with the real issue in public health care – the frontline workforce.”

He concluded by calling for a workforce plan to improve the recruiting and retaining of health-care professionals, as well as decisive action to ensure capacity and infrastructure can keep up to our growing population.

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