Premier Smith Comments After Alberta Health Mandates Masking in Acute Care Facilities

Peter Lougheed Centre hospital staff wait to screen essential visitors who are the only visitors permitted in Alberta hospitals as part of COVID-19 precautions in Calgary, Alta., April 9, 2020. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

EDMONTON—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta Health Services (AHS) has the autonomy to bring in mask mandates in acute care facilities, but says she is still committed to not bringing in “province-wide mask mandates.”

“I believe that if Albertans want to wear a mask, they should. AHS has announced their decision to implement a new masking protocol in AHS acute care facilities,” Ms. Smith said in a statement to The Epoch Times on Oct. 11.

“We recognize that AHS currently has the autonomy to make this decision. It is my expectation that no Albertan will be denied access to health care.”

In a statement posted on the AHS website and social media on Oct. 11, AHS said it has issued the “Use of Masks to Prevent Transmission of COVID-19 Directive,” to come immediately into effect, and it will allow zone executive leadership and site leadership of acute care centres to decide whether to require masking by all AHS staff, doctors, midwives, students, volunteers, and workers in hospital laboratories.

Zone executive leadership is defined by AHS as the management team consisting of a chief zone officer and a zone medical director, while site leadership is the individual or individuals responsible for a specific facility of operation within AHS.

The two are supposed to work collaboratively to decide if masking is necessary.

Patients, Visitors

AHS said that if the “enhanced measures” are put into effect, masking will also be required for patients, visitors, family members, and designated support persons in emergency departments in acute care facilities and hospitals.

The directive said masking will be required if a masking poster is posted on patient doors. Masking under the newly implemented Alberta directive will also be required for workers, family, support persons, and visitors when the Medical Officer of Health recommends masks during an outbreak, by staff with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive COVID test, or in contact with a “severely immunocompromised individual.”

AHS said the directive is in place to support individual zone and site leadership to determine if masking is necessary, and could include elevators, hallways, common areas, gift shops, and cafeterias, as the site itself decides.

The leadership is supposed to carry out a risk assessment in order of importance, firstly considering the rate of hospitalizations in people with COVID-19; as well as the outbreak number, size, and impact; the percentage of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients; test positivity; and situational context. The assessment “should be done” in collaboration with the zone medical officer of health, AHS indicated.

AHS states the leadership should be reviewing the mask directive if circumstances change. AHS also indicated that the management could implement masking requirements even beyond those allowed by the directive.

Ending the directive has to be a collaborative decision between the hospital administrator and zone leadership as well.

Reported Outbreaks

Several hospitals in the province have reported cases of COVID, including in Edmonton—where 79 patients and 41 health care staff in 12 units at Royal Alexandra Hospital have been recorded with COVID-19—and Medicine Hat, where 10 patients and seven health care workers in one unit are being counted with COVID. Additional cases are being reported in hospitals in Calgary, Red Deer, and Athabasca.

The masking directive states that toddlers under the age of 2 do not need to mask, and patients in their own bed space, or who cannot place, use, or remove a mask without assistance, do not need to wear one.

AHS also said that if patients, family, support persons, or visitors “decline to mask, the health care team should work collaboratively with them to find the most appropriate and safest solution for the situation.”

“No patient shall be denied services,” stated AHS, which did not respond to requests for comment by press time. Hospitals in Alberta have only been mask-free for approximately four months—it was June 19 when AHS announced it would drop masking requirements in all AHS facilities.

The B.C. government announced at the end of September that it would be reinstating mask mandates at all health care settings province-wide, as did several hospitals in Ontario.

Ms. Smith said that her government appointed the Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel, which is headed by veteran politician Preston Manning, to review legislation and policy.

She said Mr. Manning will be providing recommendations to “improve government and the health care system’s response to public health emergencies in the future.”

“This report will be submitted to cabinet by November 15, 2023 and will help inform future changes,” said Ms. Smith.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.