The Alberta New Democrats say Health Minister Adriana LaGrange has excelled at "incompetence, misinformation, and a lack of accountability" and she must be fired.
“The minister has completely failed to live up to her responsibility to deliver health care for Albertans," said Alberta NDP Shadow Minister for Health Sarah Hoffman, in a statement.
Hoffman said as education or health minister, LaGrange's inability to lead a ministry has proven she has "a reckless disregard for the well-being of Albertans."
On Wednesday during question period in the Legislature, Premier Danielle Smith responded saying the province has an excellent health minister.
"The minister we have now has made bold changes in health care. She has created four new agencies. We have a record number of doctors. We have a record number of nurses. We have a record amount of funding for health care. We have a record number of surgeries," Smith said.
"That is a record of success and I'm proud to stand behind the minister of health."
Smith added that when it comes to increasing access to surgery, chartered (for-profit) surgical facilities have been "the big success."
A statement from the Health Minister's office said under LaGrange's leadership cancer surgeries reached record levels last quarter, and Alberta is on track to complete 310,000 surgeries this year, up from 304,595 in the previous fiscal year.
"Death rates for breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancer are at or near their lowest levels ever. Alberta’s government completed the state-of-the-art Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre and secured an $800-million innovation partnership — one of the largest in the province’s history," the office said.
Alberta has seen also seen a five percent increase in orthopedic procedures overall for 2024/25, with hip replacements up 37 percent and knee replacements up 23 percent in the Edmonton Zone alone.
Alberta's physician workforce continues to grow with a recent, substantial net gain of 491 doctors, and more than 840 doctors signed on to new compensation model for family physicians. The new Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program has expanded access to primary care with 59 Nurse Practitioners now approved, 48 already practicing, including 19 in rural communities.
Registered nurses are also up 27.5 per cent, licensed practical nurses up 15.4 per cent, and psychiatric nurses up nearly 10 per cent since 2020.
"This is what healthcare progress looks like — more doctors, more nurses, better access, and stronger outcomes for patients and families across the province," the minister's office said.
“The minister is focused on delivering real results for Albertans—not partisan theatrics."
But according to the NDP, LaGrange's failures include:
• Mass layoffs of educational assistants and support staff in March 2020 during the pandemic.
• Awarding a controversial $4.2-million, no-bid contract in August 2020 to IFR Workware, based in her Red Deer-North riding, whose CEO was also a campaign donor.
• A non-confidence vote from 99 per cent of Alberta Teachers’ Association members in May 2021 due to her disrespectful approach and chaotic management of education during the pandemic.
• Using duct tape and plastic sheets to create patient spaces in Red Deer and Calgary hospitals in January 2024.
• Hospital patients requiring long-term care discharged to an inadequate hotel in another city in March 2024.
• Ignoring concerns raised by the CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS) in October 2024 about the cost of private surgical contracts and siphoning off critical staff from hospitals to support private surgery providers.
• Stripping AHS of contract authority and transferring authority to her office in a directive that also mandated the extension of a contract with the Alberta Surgical Group in October 2024.
• Firing AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos just before AHS was to meet with Alberta’s auditor general Doug Wylie over serious concerns raised about corruption in January 2025.
• Firing the entire AHS Board after allegedly refusing to be involved in the former CEO’s dismissal in January 2025.
• Giving for-profit surgical facilities a 66 per cent increase in pay for surgeries, while AHS public operating rooms only receive 12 per cent, according to leaked documents, in February 2025.
• Gag orders on public servants issued by her department in April 2025 to block open-ended conversations with the auditor general for his independent investigation into the private surgery clinic contracts.
“Before more dedicated health professionals are fired for trying to do their jobs, before more decisions are made putting profits ahead of patient care, before more cruel cuts are inflicted on Albertans, the premier must fire Adriana LaGrange," Hoffman said.
Then the premier must establish a fully independent, public inquiry into the private surgery clinic contract scandal, she added.
“If Danielle Smith won’t fire Adriana LaGrange, she’s not just tolerating the corruption, she’s co-signing it," said New Democrat leader Naheed Nenshi.
On the same day the NDP called for LaGrange to be fired, UCP MLA Pete Guthrie, who also called for a full judicial public inquiry into the government's procurement practices and allegations made by the former AHS CEO, was expelled from the UCP Caucus.
Guthrie resigned as infrastructure minister in February and has continued speaking out.
Separate investigations into health service procurement are underway by the auditor general and the RCMP. The UCP government is also overseeing an internal AHS review.
