Roles

Alberta Health sets policy and direction to achieve a sustainable and accountable health system to promote and protect the health of Albertans. 

The Ministry of Health works to ensure Albertans receive the right health care services, at the right time, in the right place, provided by the right health care providers and teams. 

Alberta Health is responsible for: 

• setting policy, legislation and standards for the health system in Alberta
• allocating health funding
• administering provincial programs such as the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan
• providing expertise on communicable disease control
• implementing and ensuring compliance with government policy

Acute Care Alberta (ACA) is the new acute care provincial health agency. It will become a legal entity in early 2025 and begin operating in spring 2025. 

ACA will work closely with acute care providers to speed up access to quality-care and achieve key outcomes including:   

• Shorter wait times for emergency departments and surgeries.  
• Lower emergency medical services response time.   
• Higher-quality care across the province and enhanced access to care in rural areas 

Primary Care Alberta (PCA) oversees the coordination and delivery of primary health care services across the province. Improved access to primary care will help Albertans avoid visiting the emergency department and reduce pressure on hospitals.  

The overall priority for PCA is to advance the goals for providing better primary care to patients across the province. These goals include:

• Increasing Albertans’ attachment to a care provider team through new models of care
• Increasing after-hours services
• Improving access to virtual and digital health services
• Improving access to primary care delivery in underserved communities, specifically rural and remote areas.   

Recovery Alberta was established July 1, 2024, and provides recovery-oriented mental health and addiction services and correctional health services in Alberta. It is one of four provincial health agencies announced by the Government of Alberta in November 2023 in its plans to refocus and strengthen Alberta's healthcare system.

To learn more about Recovery Alberta, visit here.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) will continue to play a strong role in operating its 90+ hospitals, with a renewed focus on shorter wait times, and supporting high-quality hospital care for patients in communities across Alberta.  

The Acute Care Provincial Health Agency Executive Transition Team has been established to support AHS as it transitions from a regional health authority to a service delivery provider. 

Acute care providers, including AHS, Covenant Health and chartered surgical facilities, will be accountable to ACA.