During January’s Alberta Health Services (AHS) Preferential Access Inquiry in Calgary it was revealed that private patients jumped the line for taxpayer-funded cancer screening tests, thereby prompting a review of how AHS work with private clinics.
The inquiry heard that patients from a private medical clinic were automatically fast-tracked for tests at Calgary’s publicly funded colon-cancer screening centre and receiving treatment within weeks while most Albertans waited nearly three years for non-urgent colonoscopies.
Alberta’s $10 million preferential access inquiry under the watchful eye of justice John Verdes got underway last fall and is scheduled to wrap up this spring after being extended into February. The speaker testified at the enquiry and will offer opinions on its revelations.
Speaker: Dr. Raj Sherman, Leader of Alberta’s Liberal Party
Dr. Raj Sherman was elected to his first term as a Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Meadowlark on March 3, 2008. He served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and Wellness from March 2, 2008, to November 22, 2010. In September 2011 he became Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.
Dr. Sherman completed his medical studies at the University of Alberta, and after obtaining his MD from the Faculty of Medicine, he specialized in family and emergency medicine. During his medical career he served as a STARS flight physician, as president of the section of emergency medicine for the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), and as a member of the AMA Health Issues Council.
In July 2011, Dr Sherman was voted one of the 50 most influential Albertans by Alberta Venture magazine. He continues to practice medicine on week-ends and is a keynote speaker and panelist at national health conferences. Dr. Sherman is also a clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine and a past member of the University of Alberta Senate.