The province plans to establish eight to 10 “operational districts” intended to improve access to health care in rural Alberta, says Health Minister Stephen Mandel.

Mandel made the announcement in Edmonton on Wednesday after the rural health services review committee delivered its final report and recommendations. Rural municipal leaders are also in the capital city for the Alberta Association of Municipal District and Counties spring convention.

“We know accessing health care can be challenging in rural Alberta, and what works in urban areas may not translate to rural areas,” Mandel said in a news release.

“I appreciate that rural Albertans took the time to share their very thoughtful and creative ideas. There’s a lot of energy in rural Alberta when it comes to improving health services in their communities.”

As part of the plan, Alberta Health Services will also work to develop a provincial EMS model.

The new AHS operational districts are planned to be in place by July 1. They will be responsible for delivering local health services and meeting performance objectives. Each district will receive advice from new 10- to 15-member local advisory committees.

The move back to health districts appears to be a direct reversal for the Tory government.

Back in 2008, under then-premier Ed Stelmach, the Alberta government slashed the number of health authorities in the province from nine to one.

At the time, then-health minister Ron Liepert categorized the change as the first phase of the Conservatives' plan to reshape the province's health-care system.

The nine health boards were collapsed into one "super-board," which became Alberta Health Services.

"MLAs have brought to me instances of where one side of the road in one of the regions delivers services different than people who live on the other side of the road," Liepert said at the time.

"Those are the kinds of things we need to ensure don't happen in the system, because an Albertan is an Albertan and should receive seamless service across the province."

Premier Jim Prentice admitted the pendulum is swinging back to a more localized system.

People feel disenfranchised and the current breakdown of AHS into five zones system is not enough to meet their needs, he said.

“This province is too vast to have five districts ... people have the right to have input into local decision-making in something as important as their healthcare institution," he said.

The proposed boundaries of the operational districts have yet to be determined.

Vickie Kaminski, AHS president and CEO, said each district will have a local advisory committee made up of community leaders, representatives of health advisory councils, patients and families. Each area will have a leadership team that will be accountable to the vice presidents for northern and southern Alberta.

“I am confident the changes will help address some of the concerns we have heard that too many decisions have to be made by the most senior levels of AHS,” Kaminski said in a statement. “The changes will ensure there is more local input and decision-making and that there is fair and equal representation for all areas of the province when decisions need to be made at the most senior levels of the organization.”

The advisory committees will have input into resource allocation and capital budgets for repairs and renovations.

“As a large, province-wide health organization, AHS continues to evolve to ensure the right structures are in place to put decisions into the hands of the most appropriate people, and to ensure we are meeting the health needs of Albertans,” Kaminski said.