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Alarm bells have sounded in Quebec and Ontario that key medical supplies are going fast, but Alberta is relatively well stocked because of a mastermind group of bureaucrats at Alberta Health Services.

Yes, bureaucrats — often maligned by the public and politicians for inefficiency — are today’s heroes due to their brilliant work in planning and preparing for this crisis.

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The AHS team kicked into gear long before the rest of the world knew that a frightening new infectious disease was spreading.

Jitendra “J.P.” Prasad, who runs the AHS supply procurement system, is always on the lookout for terrible diseases that might impact supply and demand. He and his team heard disturbing news about a “strange flu” in Wuhan, China, in early December, Prasad said. “We have contacts from China and a lot of the conversation from them was, ‘Hey, J.P., we think something is happening that may impact us.'”