Business, Events, Policy, Provincial

For the first time, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce hosted all four Alberta health ministers for a single discussion of the future of healthcare in the province. The discussion featured Minister LaGrange (Primary and Preventive Care), Minister Wilson (Mental Health and Addictions), and Minister Jones (Hospital and Surgical Care), with Chamber CEO Doug Griffiths moderating a practical Q&A focused on access, capacity, and measurable outcomes. Unfortunately, Minister Nixon (Assisted Living and Social Services) was unable to attend at the final hour due to adverse weather conditions. 

Below are our key takeaways from the discussion with Alberta’s Health Ministers: 

• Primary and preventive care is expanding access and workforce capacity. Minister LaGrange outlined how Alberta is growing workforce capacity, from physicians' compensation, to managing an oversubscribed nurse‑practitioner pipeline. She highlighted tools like the “find a doctor” resource to attach more Albertans to care and reiterated how greater flexibility for physicians and earlier access to diagnostic imaging are intended to reduce bottlenecks and improve patient flow. 

• Recovery-oriented mental health and addictions care is scaling up. Minister Wilson highlighted early‑intervention and long‑term recovery as the system’s anchors, with new treatment beds in Enoch and across five First Nations communities. Roughly 12,000 Albertans used same‑day virtual opioid supports last year, and Navigation Centres and 211 remain key access points. The ministry signaled a strong focus on Edmonton in 2026. 

• Hospitals are stabilizing while surgical capacity grows. Minister Jones outlined that a new six‑priority plan aims to deliver 50,000 more surgeries over three years, supported by shifting appropriate patients from hospitals into community and continuing‑care settings. 

• We asked what tangible changes the business community should see in the next year. Ministers pointed to easier access to personal health records, broader use of digital waitlists, and better pathways for acute care needs to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations. They emphasized improved mental‑health access for neurodivergent youth and highlighted the Kickstand Kickstand project model as an example of integrated wrap‑around support they plan to scale. They noted that progress will be reflected in shorter surgical and emergency wait times, easier navigation of programs, higher uptake of available services, more residents attached to a family doctor close to home, and growing use of compassionate‑intervention and recovery‑centre programs. 

The Edmonton Chamber thanks our presenting sponsor Alberta Blue Cross and contributing sponsor Bayshore Healthcare for supporting this important conversation, and we will continue to bring timely, solutions‑focused dialogues to our business community as Alberta’s health system transformation moves forward.