Alberta ER wait times in spotlight as UCP, NDP set to speak

The provincial government has plans to build out emergency capacity at multiple hospitals, but critics are questioning the intent and timing.

Alberta’s emergency room capacity issues are back in the political spotlight, with both the provincial government and the Official Opposition addressing growing concerns over hospital wait times and patient safety.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The UCP will speak this afternoon at Calgary’s Peter Lougheed Centre, where Infrastructure Minister Martin Long is set to provide an update on the status of the hospital’s emergency department expansion.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi is also holding a virtual news conference at 9 a.m., calling for urgent action to address what he described as a health-care emergency across the province.

The renewed focus comes after emergency physicians warned Premier Danielle Smith and her health ministers that overcrowding in Alberta hospitals is leading to dangerous delays in care.

A six-page letter from emergency doctors, obtained by CTV News, outlines six recent deaths and dozens of near misses in emergency departments since Jan. 1.

The document describes patients waiting hours for beds and treatment, including seniors suffering from severe infections and others leaving emergency rooms due to long waits — only to return later in more serious condition.

The province recently announced plans to introduce a physician role dedicated to triage at Alberta’s busiest emergency departments to lower wait times.

It’s pointed to a busy flu season as a major factor behind emergency room pressures and says the situation has begun to ease since late December.

With files from Tyson Fedor