Amazing Together Every Day
AHS recognizes that our work takes place on historical and contemporary Indigenous lands, including the territories of Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8, and the homeland of the Métis Nation of Alberta and eight Métis Settlements. We also acknowledge the many Indigenous communities that have been forged in urban centres across Alberta.
April 25, 2025
Interim chief medical officer of health appointed
Alberta’s government has named Dr. Sunil Sookram as interim Chief Medical Officer of Health. This appointment ensures continuity while arrangements are finalized for a longer-term appointment.
“I'm happy to serve as Alberta's interim chief medical officer of health. I look forward to working with the government, my colleagues and health partners to promote and protect the health of all Albertans,” says Dr. Sookram.
Dr. Sookram currently serves as facility medical director and chief of medical staff at Strathcona Community Hospital. He is also a clinical professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alberta and practises as an emergency physician at the University of Alberta Hospital.
He brings years of front-line experience and leadership to the interim role. He also has recent experience working within Alberta Health. Through this period of transition, Dr. Sookram will also be supported by Zone Medical Officers of Health at Alberta Health Services. Read more.
Help us celebrate the contributions of our amazing volunteers
Volunteers create ripples of change in the lives of patients, families and staff across the province. We’re incredibly grateful for the important role they play in delivering quality patient- and family-centred care to Albertans every day.
In 2024, AHS registered volunteers donated more than 741,000 hours. Programs supported by the dedicated efforts of volunteers include patient visitation, emergency support, wayfinding, revenue generation, clinic support, patient / family advisors and research support.
National Volunteer Week is April 27 to May 3. Help us celebrate their contributions.
Please take a moment to share your appreciation for volunteers on Thanks For Caring or by using the hashtag #NVW2025 #VolunteersMakeWaves on social media.
Alberta organ and tissue donation awareness campaign wins awards
Give Life Alberta’s public awareness campaign has won several ACE Awards for its unexpected approach to promoting organ and tissue donation. The Advertising Club of Edmonton chose the All the Ways series as their top Not-For-Profit Video in four categories, as well as three Awards of Distinction, including Fearless Client for the Give Life Alberta team.
The campaign also won a national Applied Arts Advertising Award in 2024. All the Ways, created by ZGM Modern Marketing Partners, encourages Albertans to share their organ and tissue donation decision with their families in creative ways. While the campaign’s tone is lighthearted, its goal is to normalize talks about deceased donation.
The AHS organ and tissue donation program Give Life Alberta worked closely on the campaign with ZGM. Donation staff and several donor families consulted on the project.
To see All the Ways, visit GiveLifeAlberta.ca.
Recognize the importance of worker safety for National Day of Mourning
On April 28, we recognize National Day of Mourning. A day to reflect and remember our colleagues who have faced illness, injury or lost their lives due to work-related incidents.
In their honour, we will fly the Canadian flag at half-mast across our sites. We encourage you to join us in observing one minute of silence at 11 a.m.
By following safe work practices and making safety part of our everyday actions and conversations, we help foster a healthier workplace for ourselves and others.
Visit Insite to access resources, to learn more about the day, or for ways to get involved.
Learn how to make healthcare more sustainable
Every day, AHS staff find ways to make healthcare more sustainable through small changes, smart ideas and teamwork. Learn how you can make your area greener. Join our Sustainability in Quality Improvement Workshop on June 17 — a virtual, facilitator-led course on how to add sustainability to everyday improvement work, with examples from South Health Campus. Learn more.
Support a team in the 2025 Green Team Competition in Calgary Zone, where staff are leading green projects to make daily work more sustainable. Learn more.
You can also connect with more than 170 peers through the Sustainability Community of Practice — a space to share ideas and celebrate success. Email: Surgery.Sustainability@ahs.ca.
From white bins for clean glass in ORs to remanufacturing single-use devices, AHS teams are cutting emissions and reducing costs. This year’s Earth Day was April 22, but real change happens every day, thanks to you. Visit our Office of Sustainability to explore more initiatives and get inspired.
Language menu boosts access to public health services
Newcomers to Canada have improved access to vital public health services in Red Deer with the launch of a new AHS pilot program.
The Inbound Call Interpreter service at Johnstone Crossing Community Health Centre, launched last month, enables patients and clients calling in to choose from a pre-recorded menu of seven languages, which will connect them to a medical interpreter. The language menu features options in Arabic, Ukrainian, Tigrinya, Tagalog, Spanish, French and English.
“When we reviewed our programs and services, we identified some individuals called in to our switchboard but didn’t choose an option or leave a message because they didn’t have a level of comfort with English,” says Kandice Wilson, public health director, AHS Central Zone.
“We turned to AHS’ Interpretation and Translation Services to find a way to decrease those barriers between critical health services and our clients whose first language is not English. The ultimate aim is better health outcomes.” Read more.
Let’s salute our Hand Hygiene Excellence winners
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2025 AHS and Covenant Health Hand Hygiene Excellence Awards. These individuals and teams have shown exceptional leadership in infection prevention, setting a powerful example for us all.
Their dedication helps build a safer environment for patients, families, and staff — one clean hand at a time. See the list of this year’s winners.
This recognition comes as we marked Clean Your Hands Day on May 5, a time to reflect on how daily hand-hygiene practices support safe care. It also follows the rollout of our updated hand-hygiene branding, which is helping teams across Alberta keep this critical message front and centre. Explore new branding materials.
Thank you for continuing to make hand hygiene a visible and essential part of how we care. You inspire us all.
Carpenter puts heart into lasting symbol of healing (more...)
Alberta man saves four people with organ donations (more...)
Locum nurses bring relief to rural and remote sites (more...)
Work Safe Blogs
Make health and safety a part of your mindset. Being mindful about health and safety is a conscious choice. Read more.
Kindness is important in all workplaces, not just in my role. Could you imagine if a volunteer coordinator weren’t kind? Read more.
10 Questions
This week we sit down with John Burton, director of Emergency/Disaster Management, North Zone. Read more.
Red Deer fundraisers bring female healthcare to the forefront (more...)
Pediatric social workers connect South Zone families to best resources (more...)
New Fort McMurray spaces bring more comfort for pediatric patients (more...)
Lethbridge area businesses donate $350,000 to Cardiac Centre of Excellence
The Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation, on behalf of its Board of Directors and the Southern Alberta Cardiac Sciences Advisory Cabinet, is excited to announce three major donation commitments totalling $350,000. Gas King has pledged $150,000; while both KCL Cattle Co. and Lethbridge Toyota have agreed to gifts of $100,000. All three donors took advantage of multi-year payment agreements that allowed them to increase their giving amounts.
The project will substantially elevate the standard of cardiac healthcare at the two southern Alberta regional hospitals in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. A new catheterization lab, electrophysiology lab, two echocardiography labs, cardiac MRI and CT scanners and other essential equipment, and many new cardiac ICU beds will take pressure off of existing ICU wards. There is a healthy dose of prevention programming embedded in the Cardiac Services plan as well. Read more.
Spreading the lemony love with Stollery Children’s Health Foundation
In recognition of Simply Supper’s Lemonade Stand Day raising more than $2 million since 2014, the newly renovated family room at the Stollery’s Phillip C. Etches Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton will now be known as the Simply Supper’s Lemon Love Bear’s Den.
“It’s so amazing to see the work that our Junior Lemon Squeezers do across the Stollery come to life and be there for Stollery kids and their families forever,” says Monita Chapman, owner of Simply Supper and founder of Lemonade Stand Day. “It’s also about raising the next generation of philanthropists to continue doing this good work.” Read more.
