Thats not what private means.
The Catholic Bishops of Alberta lead Covenant Health, a separate board within AHS comprising 23 hospitals and health facilities.
Covenant Health has the largest budget and covers the largest geographic area of any public Catholic health agency in Canada. Where the trend in other provinces has been to gradually absorb such agencies into the secular system, Covenant has lately been growing.
Growing.....as in spending profits on expansion.
Today Covenant Health accounts for 10 per cent of ER visits in the province, 20 per cent of deliveries and 12 per cent of acute care beds. Its 2015 budget was $895-million, or roughly 5 per cent of the provincial health budget. Covenant remains largely dependent on public funding—88 per cent of its revenue in 2015 came from the government. Its budget has grown over the past few years as Covenant builds long-term care facilities.
CEO Patrick Dumelie says Covenant works under “dual accountability.” Its board has a commitment to AHS, which sets annual targets for quality and cost. But Covenant must also adhere to policies set by the Catholic Bishops of Alberta. These men, the leaders of the seven dioceses spanning Alberta and the Northwest Territories, approve appointments to an intermediary board entitled Catholic Health of Alberta, which appoints Covenant’s 11-person board. The Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton, also holds one of the Covenant Health board positions. (Smith was appointed archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.)