Speaker Name: Kerry Bales
Session Description:
System transformation is rarely a straight line. It is built through leadership, listening, and learning. It is maintained through adjusting, and staying grounded in the needs of the people served. At Recovery Alberta, the journey to create a more coordinated, responsive recovery-oriented system has been defined by a commitment to get it right for Albertans.
This session offers a clear, candid look at how Recovery Alberta has evolved. Recovery Alberta CEO, Kerry Bales will walk with the audience down the path of where the organization began, what has changed, and how those changes are shaping the future of addiction, mental health and correctional health services across the province, with highlighted addiction services successes from stand-up through today. From integrating provincially aligned programs and strengthening partnerships to improving access and continuity of care, the story is one of steady progress built on practical decisions and organization-wide insight.
Through real examples and brief success stories, the presentation will highlight what’s working, what has been learned along the way, and how small improvements at every level add up to meaningful system impact.
Attendees will gain a shared understanding of Recovery Alberta’s direction, priorities, and the role staff and clinicians play in moving the work forward. The goal is alignment: connecting past efforts to present realities and future possibilities so staff can see themselves in the next chapter of the journey.
As Kerry Bales, CEO of Recovery Alberta reflects, “Recovery isn’t a single program or moment. It’s the everyday work of building a system that listens, adapts, and shows up for Albertans when it matters most.”
Grounded in transparency and looking to the future, this session invites participants to recognize how far we’ve come, and how, as a recovery-oriented community, we continue getting it right.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the evolution of Recovery Alberta, including key decisions, structural changes, and lessons learned in building a recovery-oriented system of addiction, mental health, and correctional health services.
- Identify practical examples of system improvements and early successes that have strengthened access and continuity of care across provincially aligned program
- Recognize the role of staff, clinicians, and partners in advancing system transformation.
- Understand how ongoing learning, adaptation, and alignment contribute to better outcomes for Albertans.
BIO
Kerry is the Chief Executive Officer of Recovery Alberta, where he leads the execution of Alberta’s provincial mandate for mental health, addiction, and correctional health. With more than 20 years of leadership experience, he provides strategic direction to ensure recovery-oriented care is accessible to Albertans across the province.
He has built strong partnerships with government, health foundations, academic institutions, the workforce, patients, families, and communities. Under his leadership, Recovery Alberta is strengthening care through aligning programs and services with the Alberta Recovery Model, system integration, and responsive service delivery.
Kerry is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Leadership.