Key Influencer – Dr. John Cowell – Official Administrator for Alberta Health Services

Source: Alberta Health Services

When the Alberta Health Services board was dismissed, the provincial government opted to appoint an official administrator in their place pursuant to legislation. In November, Dr. John Cowell was named to this position – a role he once held before. He previously served in the position in 2013 after a similar set of circumstances resulted in the termination of the AHS board under the Progressive Conservative government of the time.

Dr. Cowell is a former CEP of the Health Quality Council of Alberta as well as President/CEO of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta. He spent more than three decades with the University of Calgary’s Department of Community Health Services as a Clinical Professor and served as the Corporate Vice President of NOVA Corporation.

In taking on his recent appointment as the official administrator of AHS, he will report directly to both the Premier and Minister of Health, Jason Copping. He has been tasked with leading the charge on implementing the provincial government’s goals of improving EMS response times, decreasing ER wait times, reducing surgery wait time, and developing long-term reforms.