Health-care lobbyists are questioning the motives behind a potential $144,000 bonus for the Alberta Health Service’s CEO if he can slash costs and decrease waiting times.
AHS released yesterday CEO Dr. Stephen Duckett’s performance expectations to reach the bonus and it’s based on the following: 30 per cent for maintaining a balanced budget, 30 per cent on quality of care improvement and 40 per cent based on his ability to improve patient access to care. Duckett makes a base salary of $575,000.
But the formula just doesn’t add up, according to Friends of Medicare executive director David Eggen.
“You can’t take a billion dollars of the system and then expect to also decrease the wait times and increase the quality — that just doesn’t make sense.”
Eggen believes the bonus is heading the system into the wrong direction.
“We’re skeptical of the intentions. We know he is here to make cuts and paid bonuses to do the dirty work for (the government) and then at the end of the day go home.”
Duckett said the performance objectives are to improve the health-care system.
Wait times for complex cases in the emergency department are expected to be reduced from 16 to eight hours over the next three years and less complex cases from 5.6 to four hours.
