Healthcare Action Plan

90-Day Report from Dr. John Cowell, Official Administrator

AHS is focused on making fast, effective improvements to our four key priority areas.

Last updated April 26, 2023

As a follow-up to the 90-day report, AHS is making measurable, meaningful progress in all four priority areas. Learn more.


The Government of Alberta launched the Healthcare Action Plan on Nov. 17, 2022, to ensure rapid improvements in key areas of healthcare delivery. Dr. John Cowell was appointed by the Government of Alberta as Official Administrator (OA) of Alberta Health Services (AHS) to oversee and accelerate these improvements.

AHS is aligned with the government’s Healthcare Action Plan, and working to aggressively deliver on all priorities.

Working closely with AHS’ valued partners, the OA has been focused on ensuring access to high-quality, safe healthcare for all Albertans in the following strategic areas:

  • Improving EMS Response Times
  • Decreasing Emergency Department Wait Times
  • Improving Patient Flow Throughout the Healthcare Continuum
  • Reducing Wait Times for Surgeries

AHS is also working diligently to attract and retain healthcare professionals, and support local decision-making and innovation through improved decision-making culture and streamlined processes.

The healthcare system is a provincial asset. It is well-resourced and requires constant attention and continual improvement to ensure it serves all Albertans.

Related Information


Four Priorities


Successes to Date / Ongoing Actions

Through the focused efforts of many healthcare teams, physicians, partners and stakeholders, tangible improvements have been made to healthcare delivery over this 90-day period. This section lists each priority’s successes and ongoing actions.

The healthcare system is complex. One achievement frequently impacts two or more priority areas. For instance, good patient flow through an emergency department will get ambulances back on the road sooner, and better accessibility of acute care and continuing care reduces emergency department waits.


Improving EMS Response Times (Read more on this priority...)

EMS response times are impacted by several factors, such as volume and density of calls at any given time, as well as a community’s size, population and geography. EMS aims to ensure prompt response to all calls triaged as most emergent and life-threatening. When time is of the essence from a clinical perspective, the goal is to safely arrive in as little time as possible. Minutes really matter when responding to calls seeking help for life-threatening situations. EMS operations are sophisticated and data-driven – paramedics arrive on scene and transport patients while relying on the work of emergency communications officers and dispatch, 24 hours of every day. Insights and results from several recent reports are guiding work on reforms and innovations in EMS.

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Successes

(AHS is focusing its measures on the 90th percentile, meaning these are the response times for 90 per cent of activity.)

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Decreasing Emergency Department Wait Times (Read more on this priority...)

The emergency department (ED) is a busy and crucially important part of the flow of patients through the
healthcare system. Patients come to the ED when they are injured or in pain and believe they have nowhere else to go to seek medical attention. Whether a patient arrives independently at the ED or by ground or air ambulance, they are triaged in the same manner, ensuring those with the most urgent healthcare demands are prioritized. Changes being implemented will ensure more efficient patient movement through the ED with more clearly defined accountabilities at each stage of care, through increased staffing and more comprehensive services.

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Successes

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(AHS is focusing its measures on the 90th percentile, meaning these are the response times for 90 per cent of activity.)

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Improving Patient Flow Throughout the Healthcare Continuum (Read more on this priority...)

Ensuring Albertans have access to the right care in the right place at the right time is at the heart of the improvements being made to healthcare in the province. Re-establishing this balance will help ensure there is sufficient capacity for the flow of patients from the ED into acute care, and from acute care back into appropriate care in the community. Smooth patient flow sometimes requires helping patients with transportation back to their home or between healthcare facilities using non-ambulance transfers, and sometimes requires the identification of a continuing care space or additional home care supports.
The need for additional capacity at all stages of this process is also being addressed.

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Successes

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Reducing Wait Times for Surgeries (Read more on this priority...)

AHS has done considerable work over the past four years to introduce better management of the list of Albertans who are waiting for surgery. Adult patients who have been waiting for one day, one week, months or longer are included in this list, which changes constantly as thousands of procedures are completed every month – often on an emergency basis – and more patients are newly assessed as requiring surgery. The focus is to ensure all surgeries are completed within clinically recommended timeframes. Data is being used to analyze wait-lists of individual surgeons, as well as factors that inform the appropriate treatment of individual patients, the appropriate utilization of all available operating room capacity, and the most efficient scheduling of surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses.

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Successes

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Other Actions

Building the Workforce

AHS is now developing a Health Workforce Strategy in alignment with the Alberta Health Workforce Strategy. The strategy is a focused effort to address current labour market demand in the healthcare sector and will provide a roadmap to ensure immediate needs are prioritized, the workforce continues to grow, and every effort is taken to optimize and retain skilled employees.

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Local Decision-Making & Innovation

AHS staff and physicians have been asked for their input and feedback on what local decision-making currently looks like across the organization. Based on themes emerging from this ongoing engagement, AHS is focusing on how to simplify processes, such as hiring, budgeting and procurement practices; reducing administrative burden on our leaders and staff; and improving the culture around local decision-making.

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Looking Forward

Healthcare is an area of continuous innovation – in equipment, research, knowledge and practice. Healthcare systems must follow suit. This is a period of rapid improvement and innovation at AHS, which is beginning to show demonstrable value for Albertans thanks to the hard work, dedication and ingenuity of AHS staff and physicians, as well as the support of many partners and stakeholders.

Relentless focus on four key priorities — areas for rapid improvement that matter most to Albertans — has resulted in significant forward momentum over the past 90 days. With disciplined focus and progression, AHS will continue to demonstrate improvement throughout all areas of accountability laying the groundwork for long-term system transformation that will enhance health outcomes and experiences for all Albertans.