After repeatedly denying the link between Bill 11 and private hospitals, the Alberta government released documents Friday showing the new law sprang from a private-hospital policy. 

According to confidential documents released by Health Minister Gary Mar, the government spent months developing a policy to let private hospitals operate under health authority contracts. 

But selling Albertans on the idea was going to be a public relations gamble, according to one internal briefing note. 

"There will be very strong and high-profile opposition to the policy framework," warns the brief prepared after focus groups were held last October. 

"It would require an extensive and expensive ongoing communications effort from government that ultimately would not guarantee overall public acceptance. 

"Moving forward with these principles and eventually legislation É without any 'escape mechanism' É should be viewed as a high-risk venture by government. It should be undertaken only if there is strong support within government and determination to carry it forward É in the face of strong opposition." 

The focus groups were held in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge just weeks before Premier Ralph Klein appeared on province-wide television to outline his private health plans. 

They showed Albertans had "little trust" elected officials would protect the public health system and harboured "a strong fear of" private hospitals. 

Even when fears were alleviated through the discussion, support remained soft and participants had trouble understanding why "everything couldn't just be done in the public hospitals rather than diverting funding to private hospitals." 

Bill 11 was passed this spring in the face of opposition from doctors, nurses, consumers and churches. It allows private clinics, under contract with regional health authorities, to begin doing surgeries requiring overnight patient stays. 

Klein has repeatedly dismissed criticisms that surgical clinics which keep patients overnight are private hospitals under another name. 

But the Liberals and New Democrats say the newly released documents show the government misled Albertans. They also question whether Bill 11 would have passed if the information was released during the heat of the controversy. 

The documents came to light last February, after the Liberals applied for their release under freedom-of-information legislation. The Liberals tabled heavily censored pages referring to "private hospitals" in the legislature and accused the government of having a hidden agenda. 

Mar said he reviewed the pages with Klein before releasing all but nine of them "in the interests of being open and transparent." The nine pages deal with matters of solicitor-client privilege. 

The 60 pages released Friday trace the policy evolution from last spring and refer to facilities that allow stays of longer than 12 hours as "hospitals". 

Mar said the term private hospitals was abandoned because "it became clear that Albertans were uncomfortable with that expression and that it did not clearly reflect what it was the government was trying to do." 

Mar said he's "not afraid to make mistakes" in trying to improve the health- care system, but added Bill 11 wasn't an error because it has generated discussion about the health-care system. 

He pointed to recent health spending announcements as proof the government is committed to a strong public system. Last month, the province announced $550 million in hospital capital projects in Edmonton and Calgary. 

Liberal House Leader Gary Dickson said he's angry Klein has been denying the existence of a private hospital policy. 

He predicted the duplicity will deepen the mistrust Albertans feel. 

"People will say: 'You demonstrated on Bill 11 that you lied to us, that you were telling us one thing and yet secretly plotting something very different,' " he said. 

New Democrat Leader Raj Pannu said Klein may have faced a caucus revolt if the documents had come to light before Bill 11 was passed and Tory MLAs faced the wrath of constituents. 

Friends of Medicare spokesperson Christine Burdett said the new health spending is an attempt to "buy off the Alberta public" and gloss over criticisms of Bill 11.

17:11 07/22/2000 http://www.edmontonjournal.com/stories1/000722/4494336.html