Alberta's dual-practice health model draws protest outside premiers conference in Charlottetown

More than 100 advocates gathered outside a provincial and territorial premiers meeting in Charlottetown July 23, to protest Alberta's new health care model allowing physicians to offer privately paid surgical procedures while continuing to work in the public system.

Friends of Medicare director Chris Galloway urged the federal government to attach conditions to health care funding to prevent provinces from dismantling public systems. "Alberta is trying to make it a system that's lucrative for physicians to charge as much as they can to anyone they can, but still have the public system there to bill," Galloway said. He argued the dual-practice model creates a two-tier surgical access system "that's not allowed under the Canada Health Act."

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government plans to launch the model this fall, encouraging physicians to apply. If approved, they will be permitted to charge patients for elective procedures like hip and knee replacements outside their publicly funded practice. The government says the change will attract doctors, increase capacity, and cut wait times. Kyle Warner, a spokesperson for Alberta's hospital and surgical health services ministry, disputed the two-tier claim. "Expanding access through dual practice does not take away from that — it adds to it. This is not an either/or debate. It is about giving Albertans more choice," Warner said in a statement. He added the government is committed to ensuring Albertans "never have to pay out of pocket for medically necessary care" and has promised safeguards including rules around how physicians divide their time and minimum public surgery hour requirements.