Look at bigger picture regarding AHS salaries

By medicinehatnews on August 16, 2019.

Re: “Public sector pay is out of whack,” July 26.

We read with interest the column regarding public versus private sector pay, and in particular, the claims that AHS salaries are “out of all proportion” to the private sector.

AHS’ compensation for non-union staff, including leaders, is in the low- to mid-range when compared nationally to other healthcare systems and the rest of Alberta’s public sector employment market. 

Only 2.1 per cent of AHS employees receive total annual compensation above $129,809, the threshold for inclusion on the provincial government’s ‘sunshine list”. The majority of those employees work directly on the frontlines, caring for Albertans. 

Approximately 47 per cent of disclosed employees are unionized frontline staff, including registered nurses, paramedics, technicians, psychologists, mental health therapists, and pharmacists.

The remainder includes medical and senior leaders, and frontline clinical staff such as unit managers, nurse practitioners, clinical leads, pathologists, dentists, physicians, and lab scientists.

Compensation includes base salary, overtime, shift premiums, weekend premiums, on-call pay, sick pay, vacation pay, benefits, and relevant severance. AHS employees are not given bonuses of any kind.

AHS’ 2018 disclosure includes fewer employees than in previous years as we continue to search for efficiencies across the healthcare system and direct spending to the frontlines, where it’s needed most. 

Managers and senior leaders make up just 3.2 per cent of our employees. This includes frontline managers such as unit managers in our hospitals, clinic managers and clinical support.

AHS continues to operate under a salary freeze for all non-union exempt employees. This freeze has been in place since April 1, 2015.

There is a high demand for skilled healthcare workers across Canada and AHS strives to compensate its employees in a fair, competitive, and fiscally responsible manner in order to attract and retain well-qualified clinical and administrative healthcare staff to meet the needs of Albertans.

AHS takes fiscal responsibility extremely seriously. We know that we are funded by Albertans, and we do all we can to use that funding wisely and prudently, with continued focus on patient care.

Todd Gilchrist
VP, People, Legal and Privacy
Alberta Health Services

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