Dr. Stephen Duckett has been fired as CEO of Alberta Health Services, after he told reporters that he couldn't answer questions about emergency room wait times because he was eating a cookie.

Premier Ed Stelmach called Duckett's remarks offensive.

Duckett had been put in charge of overhauling Alberta's health-care system. Last month, a document from the Alberta Medical Association warned of the "potential catastrophic collapse of timely emergency care delivery" due to chronic overcrowding of hospitals.

The Alberta government has set a target of four hours for ER patients to be treated and discharged, but says that goal may not be reached until March 2015.

Ken Hughes, chairman of Alberta Health Services, said Duckett agreed to leave the board after more than a day of discussions.

"We need to immediately focus on the task at hand, which is to implement as quickly as possible the initiatives made possible by the province's five-year funding commitment," Hughes said. "Nothing else is more important to the health system now than focusing on access and quality."

Hughes would not say how much Duckett will receive in severance, other than that the agency will fulfill its contractual obligation.

Duckett's contract with Alberta Health Services stipulates that he is to receive an additional $700,000 if he is fired without cause.

That figure includes a year's salary plus 15 per cent in lieu of benefits, and up to $20,000 in moving expenses so that Duckett can relocate to Australia, his home country.

Duckett's cookie remarks were filmed and uploaded to YouTube, sparking a public outcry.

He later posted an apology to his blog.

"On November 19, Alberta Health Services had a meeting of clinical and operational leaders to develop new protocols to reduce Emergency Department wait times. The meeting made great progress," Duckett said.

"That success has to some extent been overshadowed by my poor responses to the media afterwards, which I deeply regret and for which I apologize unreservedly. I certainly respect the media's right to ask timely questions in the public interest."

Opposition MPPs suggested the problem was larger than Duckett, saying the province's health authorities need to be restructured.

Day-to-day medical care is the responsibility of Alberta Health Services, which they say makes politicians less accountable and fuels conflict between the agency's CEO and the provincial government.

"The minister is accountable politically for the health system and is accountable in the legislature," said NDP Leader Brian Mason. "This structure allows him to avoid accountability for what's gone on."

Liberal Opposition Leader David Swann echoed that sentiment.

"It's a sign of a bigger problem, an impossible system," he said.

Chris Eagle, a vice president with Alberta Health Services, is now acting CEO of the agency.