President, CEO of AHS announces he is stepping down

CALGARY– There has been a big shakeup at Alberta Health Services, with the organization’s CEO and President announcing he is stepping down.

Dr. Chris Eagle made the announcement on Thursday, saying it was a ‘personal and very difficult decision.’

“I have spent the last three years leading AHS, the largest health care authority in the country, and it has been my privilege to have had that opportunity,” he said in a statement. “This has been by far the most challenging work of my career, and it has also been the most rewarding.”

Eagle will formally leave AHS on October 20, 2014, and no severance will be paid. The search for a new CEO is now underway.

In a statement, Health Minister Fred Horne thanked Eagle for what he called his ‘contribution to our health system.’

“On behalf of government, I thank Dr. Eagle for his service to our province and personal commitment to the care of Albertans.”

Liberal MLA David Swann called Thursday “a sad day.”

“Dr. Chris  Eagle is stepping down. I want to thank him personally for the tremendous commitment and accountability, openness, and approachability he’s demonstrated as CEO of Alberta Health Services in a very difficult time fraught with tremendous divisions and political interference.

“He’s been in an impossible position with a meddling minister and a Health Services Board that has gone through several transitions and is now gone of course. And now he’s accountable to – it would appear – a minister, a deputy minister, and an administrator – another impossible situation for him to be in – while trying to live out his commitment to patients and front-line workers who he’s worked with for decades… My surprise is that he’s lasted this long, frankly.  It’s a blow again to the stability and trust in our health care system and it’s a demonstration that this government is lurching from crisis to crisis without a clear plan, “ Swann added.

“I wish him well, I think he deserves a break.”

Effective immediately, Duncan Campbell has been appointed acting CEO and President. He had been serving as VP, Administration and CFO.