Alberta Health Services has issued its response to the Auditor General's report on mental healthcare in the province.

On Monday, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) listed three recommendation to AHS:

1: Integration of mental health services and elimination of gaps in service.

2: Information management in mental health and addictions.

3: Community housing supports for the mentally ill.

The last report from the OAG brought up 11 recommendations, which AHS has been actively working to improve.

AHS President and CEO Vickie Kaminiski says the new issues raised are significant and important.

"While the Auditor General recognized these improvements were important and had been made, he re-emphasized for us, and we agreed, that there's still much work to do," she says. "And, we've committed to getting that work done."

In a release from the Province, Kaminiski says she's happy to see Premier Rachel Notley quickly respond to the Auditor General's report.

"AHS is pleased the Premier of Alberta has launched a full-scale review of Alberta's addiction and mental health system, and has committed to doing what it can to support that review," she says.

Kaminiski says the improvement of primary care will be a big step forward.

"Primary care is a corner-stone for mentally ill patients, and for those suffering from addiction," she says. "If we're going to improve the mental health of all Albertans, we have to improve access to primary care, and work with our primary-care partners."

Kaminiski says AHS is pursuing a larger, unified clinical-information system, but it'll still be in the works for awhile, and the cost is unknown at this point.

"We really are just finalizing the request for proposals for a clinical information system for the Province," she says. "But, I think it's a bit early to pre-judge what the price will be. I can't imagine it will be cheap, but I think it will be very effective."

Kaminiski says a five-year time frame for the unified clinical information system is a realistic goal.

To view the Auditor General's full report, click here.