The government of Alberta has named a new interim chief medical officer of health, replacing Dr. Mark Joffe, whose interim contract expired earlier this week. The province says it is working toward a longer-term appointment.
Dr. Sunil Sookram, an emergency physician at the University of Alberta Hospital, has temporarily taken over the role while the province finalizes arrangements for a longer-term candidate, the province said in an April 17 press release. He replaces Joffe, whose contract expired on April 14.
“Dr. Sookram has served Albertans through emergency medicine throughout his career. He brings a wealth of experience to this interim role,” said Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.
“I appreciate his willingness to serve in this capacity on a temporary basis as we work to finalize the candidate for the interim Chief Medical Officer of Health position.”
Sookram is the facility medical director and chief of medical staff at Strathcona Community Hospital in Sherwood Park, Alta. He is also a clinical professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Alberta, and an emergency physician at the university’s hospital. He has also recently worked with Alberta Health.
Premier Danielle Smith said this week the province wanted Joffe to stay in the position but “he chose to go on to other opportunities.”
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“[Joffe has] done a great job for us through a number of different crises, whether it was E. coli or giving us advice on the most recent measles outbreak,” Smith said during question period at the legislature on April 16. “We’re in the process of interviewing candidates.”
Joffe was appointed to the role on an interim basis on Nov. 4, 2022, replacing Dr. Deena Hinshaw, who held the position during the COVID-19 pandemic and whose replacement was part of a 2022 commitment by Smith to establish a new public health advisory team.
The Opposition NDP had criticized the incumbent United Conservative Party government for leaving the post temporarily empty at a time when Alberta is recording new measles cases.
“Measles is spreading, one of the most contagious infections that we know of, a preventable disease that is making kids sick,” said NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman at the legislature on April 16. “The minister could at least appoint an interim chief medical officer of health, but she hasn’t and in their absence continues to fail to promote effective vaccination.”
Smith said that while the government was looking for Joffe’s replacement, local medical officers of health in every service zone in the province were “taking the lead wherever it is that we have an outbreak of measles.”
A day earlier, the premier said most of the province’s new measles cases are tied to specific communities, and that officials are taking a “targeted approach” to provide information and vaccination access in those areas. She also said the province had launched a public awareness campaign, with plans to expand it in affected areas.
The province reported six new cases in the 24 hours leading up to noon on April 17, matching the six cases recorded the previous day. This brings the total to 89 cases since the start of the outbreak, with 83 no longer considered contagious.
