Alberta's healthcare system is already stretched thin, with frontline workers doing everything they can to keep services running. Last week, the provincial government announced a policy that critics say could make things significantly worse.
On June 18, Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services Adriana LaGrange unveiled plans to allow Alberta doctors to practise in both public and private settings simultaneously — a shift that healthcare advocates warn violates the Canada Health Act and threatens the public system's sustainability.
What Dual Practice Means
Under dual practice, physicians would be able to choose which patients receive publicly funded care and which pay premium private fees for faster treatment. While the announcement framed the policy as expanding "patient choice and access," critics argue it does the opposite for most Albertans.
"This doesn't create a single new doctor, nurse, or hospital bed," healthcare policy experts warn. "It simply pulls scarce medical professionals away from public care and places them behind a paywall for those who can afford it."
Evidence From Around the World
The concern isn't theoretical. Countries across Europe, Australia, and British Columbia have tested parallel private healthcare systems — and the results consistently show the same pattern: public wait times get worse, not better.
The United Kingdom, which permits dual practice, attempted to cap private income for physicians. The limit was routinely ignored until the government abandoned enforcement. Ireland set time restrictions on private patient work. According to Ireland's own auditor general and investigative journalists, those limits were regularly breached.
During the decade-long Cambie Surgeries trial in British Columbia, evidence emerged showing that dual practice creates subtle but powerful incentives for doctors to allow public wait lists to grow longer — making expensive private care appear more attractive to desperate patients.
Alberta's Proposed Safeguards Face Skepticism
The Smith government has promised protective measures to prevent system gaming. However, international experience suggests such safeguards are difficult to enforce in practice.
The Alberta Medical Association has expressed such serious concerns about the reform that it has proposed 70 additional safeguards — itself a signal that existing protections may be inadequate.
Healthcare workers across Alberta continue to handle an overburdened system with limited resources. Dual practice, they argue, will only make their jobs harder and patient outcomes worse for those without the means to pay premium rates.
This article is based on reporting originally published by the Edmonton Journal. For the full original piece, visit the Edmonton Journal.