Health services restructuring in Alberta and the 2009 pandemic influenza-An untimely concurrence.

Richard Musto,Kevin Fonseca,Anne Ulrich,Judy Macdonald

doi:10.1177/0840470420909121

Richard Musto, Kevin Fonseca + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470420909121

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Abstract

In the last 12 years, every Canadian province and territory has undertaken significant health services restructuring, with the pace of change accelerating recently. When the H1N1 Pandemic Influenza (PI) hit Alberta in the spring of 2009, the province had just begun a restructuring of health services of a scale unprecedented in Canada. The new province-wide entity, Alberta Health Services (AHS), was faced with mounting an effective response to a global communicable disease outbreak during a time of great organizational flux. In this retrospective, the authors reflect on challenges and opportunities presented during the AHS PI response related to the coordination of public health, laboratory services, emergency and disaster management, communications, and health services delivery. Lessons learned are shared that may be helpful to other provinces and territories as they continue to evolve their systems, so that they may be better prepared to respond to an untimely event such as a pandemic.

Highlights

In the last 12 years, every province and territory in Canada has undertaken significant restructuring of their health services, with the pace of change accelerating recently.[1]
When the H1N1 Pandemic Influenza (PI) hit Alberta in the spring of 2009, health services had just begun a restructuring of a scale unprecedented in Canada
The PI arrived in Canada just 6 years after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) did in 2003, which had exposed the poor level of preparedness of the health system for an outbreak of a novel agent and how broadly disruptive it could be in a community.[2]

Summary

Introduction

In the last 12 years, every province and territory in Canada has undertaken significant restructuring of their health services, with the pace of change accelerating recently.[1]. Two reviews of the Alberta experience have been published—one commissioned by the government[3] and the other focused on surveillance.[4] In this retrospective, the authors draw from these and their own personal recollections and reflect on challenges experienced and opportunities presented during the AHS PI response related to the coordination of public health, emergency and disaster management, communications, and health services delivery.

Results

Conclusion