ID 156505178 | A © Lisa Bourgeault | Dreamstime.com

By Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Alberta’s auditor general recommends new system for health reporting, finds disparity

Dec 11, 2025 | 12:52 PM

Alberta’s auditor general says the province needs a new framework for measuring and monitoring health-care system performance.

Doug Wylie made the recommendations in a new report.

The suggestion comes after he found inconsistencies, including in Premier Danielle Smith’s 2022 health-care action plan.

Wylie says public reporting was a major commitment in Smith’s plan but in the months that followed the reports were inconsistent and didn’t always follow up on commitments.

Smith announced her plan shortly after taking office, and it came just as she fired the board of the provincial health authority and replaced it with a lone administrator.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

The report says almost half of the reporting measures that were promised were never fulfilled and at some points data was cherry-picked to make the system seem more efficient than it was.

It also identified other issues unrelated to Smith’s plan, including that Alberta Health Services failed to meet provincially required reporting rules when it didn’t publish a business plan in 2023.

Wylie, in the report issued Thursday, says he doesn’t think politics are to blame but rather best practices weren’t followed.

He says widespread turnover at the board and executive level of AHS played a role in inconsistent reporting, as did the competing priorities of its board and government ministries.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.