CEO of Alberta Health Services Dr. Verna Yiu provides a COVID-19 update in Edmonton, on Sept. 3, 2021.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Alberta’s health authority has removed its chief executive officer, as the government argues that “renewed” leadership will help propel its plans to revamp care in the province.
Alberta Health Services, which is structured as an arms-length entity funded by the province to deliver health care, on Monday announced the “departure” of Verna Yiu, more than a year before her contract was set to expire.
Dr. Yiu’s contract stipulates she would not be eligible for severance pay if she resigned. AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson confirmed Dr. Yiu will receive 12 months severance, as outlined in her contract. The severance agreement says if the executive is dismissed without just cause, she is conditionally entitled to one year’s base salary. Dr. Yiu’s annual salary was $573,841 when her contract was extended last May to June, 2023.
“We have been planning for an orderly transition,” said recently-appointed AHS chair Gregory Turnbull in a press release announcing the departure.
Neither Dr. Yiu, who took over as CEO in 2016, nor Mr. Turnbull replied to messages seeking comment.
As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, some members of the governing United Conservative Party argued AHS was to blame for the buckling health care system because, the politicians alleged, its leaders left hospitals ill-prepared and short on intensive-care space.
The government took particular issue with Dr. Yiu’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for AHS employees and contractors and, eventually, ordered AHS to remove the edict. Dr. Yiu occasionally participated in Alberta’s coronavirus updates, delivering somber details that, at times, contrasted with the government’s telling and policy.
AHS has named Mauro Chies, the vice-president in charge of cancer care and clinical support services, as its “interim CEO on a temporary basis.” It also said it will soon appoint an “interim” president and CEO.
“A search committee was formed several months ago, and the group has started a search process,” AHS’s statement said.
AHS is Alberta’s largest employer, with a budget exceeding $15-billion and more than 80,000 full-time equivalent staff.
David Shepherd, the New Democratic Party’s health critic, accused the UCP of political interference in Dr. Yiu’s departure, tying it to Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership review – though he conceded he lacked hard evidence to back up his allegation.
UCP members were scheduled to gather in Red Deer this weekend to vote on whether Mr. Kenney should continue as party leader; the UCP executive last month changed the rules, requiring members to vote by mail and allowing them do so into May.
“The dismissal of Dr. Yiu is an attempt to appease the extremists within the UCP and tempt them back into Jason Kenney’s camp,” Mr. Shepherd told reporters.
Jason Copping, Alberta’s Health Minister, released a statement in response to interview requests.
“It’s time to move forward with an ambitious agenda to improve and modernize the health system, and renewed leadership at Alberta Health Services will support delivering those changes,” Mr. Copping said in the statement. AHS’s board “has been planning for some time to start the recruitment process for a new CEO at the end of Dr. Yiu’s extended term,” and Monday’s announcement will “bump up the timeline for the transition and help the system move forward.”
The UCP wants to expand the number publicly-funded surgeries performed in private facilities.
“We promised Albertans better access to surgery and a stronger publicly funded health system with better access overall. The pandemic has changed the timelines but it hasn’t changed the goals,” Mr. Copping said.
“They’re multi-year commitments and we need to move forward on them, supported by renewed leadership at AHS.”
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