After nearly three years of pain and waiting, Cheryl Stewart finally has a date for her hip replacement surgery — but her ordeal highlights a growing crisis in Alberta's healthcare system and raises serious questions about the province's latest attempt to tackle surgical backlogs.
Stewart, 77, described watching her mobility deteriorate as months turned into years on the public waitlist. "It got 10 times worse," she told The National. "I could barely walk from my bed to my kitchen or bathroom." For her, going private was never an option. "To have to go private and spend $35,000, of which I don't have a penny — that would be impossible," she said. "It's a two-tiered system, and you certainly don't feel like you're in the upper tier."
Stewart's frustration reflects a broader healthcare challenge gripping Canada, but Alberta's response to it is proving controversial. Starting this fall, the province is rolling out Bill 11 legislation that introduces a "dual-practice" model — allowing doctors to simultaneously work in public hospitals while running private surgical practices on the side.
The Promise vs. The Reality
Supporters argue the model will increase surgical capacity across the board, reducing wait times for everyone by giving physicians the flexibility to take on more cases. The province maintains that with proper guardrails in place, dual practice won't drain surgeons from the public system.
But critics — including patient advocates, healthcare organizations, and analysts — say the evidence tells a different story.
Data from Canada and international healthcare systems reveals a troubling pattern: when dual practice is allowed, public wait times don't shrink — they grow. Physicians naturally prioritize lucrative private patients over longer, more complex cases in the public system. The result is a widening gap between those who can afford to jump the queue and those trapped waiting.
A Quebec Cautionary Tale
Alberta's model isn't entirely novel. Quebec has run a similar system for years, though with slightly different rules. Previously, Quebec doctors could simply notify the government before switching between public and private work. As of last year, they now need government approval first — a move suggesting the original model created problems significant enough to warrant tighter controls.
Despite these adjustments, Quebec's surgical backlogs have not meaningfully improved. Health advocates warn Alberta risks repeating the same mistakes.
The Canada Health Act Question
Beyond efficiency concerns, some argue Alberta's dual-practice system may violate the Canada Health Act, which requires healthcare to be publicly funded and universally accessible based on medical need — not ability to pay. Canadian healthcare groups have rallied against the legislation, calling on the federal government to intervene.
For patients like Stewart, the distinction is personal and urgent. She worked her entire life, paid her taxes, and believed the public healthcare system would be there when she needed it. Instead, she watches others skip ahead because they have money.
"It seems unfair," she said simply.
As Alberta moves forward with its controversial healthcare experiment, one question looms: will dual practice finally break the surgical wait-time crisis, or will it simply create a faster lane for the wealthy while leaving everyone else further behind?
This article is based on reporting from CBC Calgary. For the full investigation, visit CBC News.