Alberta NDP calls on Danielle Smith to acknowledge, address ER capacity ‘crisis’

Alberta’s Opposition NDP is calling on Premier Danielle Smith’s government to face a “crisis” of overcrowded hospitals head-on as as doctors plead for emergency measures to help cope.

NDP hospital services critic Sarah Hoffman told reporters Monday instead of directing resources towards fixing long emergency department wait times, “it feels like the UCP is still on vacation mode.”

She said Smith and her four health ministers have been silent for too long, and they need to take action, including to strengthen staffing.

“The buck stops with them, and they should be showing some leadership, answering questions and putting resources into the front lines,” said Hoffman.

“They keep putting out statements, but haven’t made themselves available. They need to show accountability,” said Hoffman.

The ministry responsible for hospital services did not immediately provide a response to Hoffman’s calls.

They came as doctors continued to sound the alarm over capacity.

2:09 Alberta doctors plea for province to declare state of emergency

On Saturday, the Alberta Medical Association, which represents doctors across the province, said patient care is at risk and that speaking out publicly is a last resort for physicians who have tried in vain to raise their concerns internally.

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“If conditions are dire enough that doctors are speaking bluntly to the media, we all need to listen,” the association said in a statement.

“The current situation has exceeded normal operating parameters for acute care.”

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It cited long-term data showing increasing wait times and a rising number of patients leaving emergency departments without being seen.

Acute Care Alberta is one of a group of new provincial governing agencies created by Smith’s government to replace Alberta Health Services, which was dismantled as the provincial health authority and relegated to being a hospital services provider.

It has recently rescheduled some non-emergency surgeries in Edmonton, and temporarily paused accepting internal medicine patients from other zones.

The Alberta Medical Association said the government needs to bring back clear provincial health agency accountability for co-ordinating patients among different hospital providers around the province.

“Ultimately, government is responsible for the health of Albertans – and right now, that means re-establishing the structures, roles, authority and accountability in the refocused health system,” it said.

“The first step to solve a problem is acknowledging there is one.”

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Last week, the government said the system is using all available resources.

2:05 E.R. doctors say Alberta hospitals in crisis even before call for state of emergency

“Calls for a ‘public health state of emergency’ are misguided and would add nothing to what is already being done,” said Maddison McKee, press secretary for Primary and Preventative Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.

The ministry in charge of hospitals has said long emergency wait times are a serious concern.

“We are cautiously optimistic that demand may ease as cases in the community stabilize especially in Calgary and Edmonton, but hospitals will remain busy throughout the season,” it said in a statement last week.

Hoffman, too, pointed to the impact of the flu season, but she accused the government of failing to deliver a “full” vaccination campaign that may have helped stem the latest surge.

The province’s most recent numbers count only 19 per cent of Albertans who have received an influenza vaccine this season.

LaGrange, in December, said it was a “very strong public campaign” and noted that over a half a million dollars was spent promoting immunization.

In the Edmonton area, the government said hospitals are accelerating discharges and transfers when appropriate, opening surge spaces to deal with increased demand, and that it dedicated 336 beds for respiratory virus season.

The government also pointed to its plans to add 1,000 additional acute care beds and 1,500 continuing care spaces across the province.