Alberta health-care wait lists climb past half a million, as Alberta stops tracking deaths of those waiting for treatment

A study shows more Albertans are waiting for important health-care services, even after the pressure of the pandemic has eased.

Alberta’s health-care wait lists have swelled beyond half a million patients, and the province has stopped counting how many people die while waiting for treatment, creating a lack of disclosure that leaves families and analysts examining the system without answers.

SecondStreet.org, a public policy think tank, obtained data through freedom-of-information requests and provincial postings.

It found at least 3.7 million Canadians on confirmed wait lists this year, though the group estimates the true figure could reach 5.8 million, or about one in eight people countrywide.

In Alberta, the snapshot shows 81,848 waiting for surgery, 174,022 for diagnostics and 256,019 for specialist appointments as of this spring and summer.

The diagnostic backlog alone has grown by nearly 70,000 since 2022, while surgical waits are up by about 6,000.

By share of population, Alberta accounts for roughly 13 per cent of Canada’s confirmed wait lists, higher than its 12 per cent share of the population — leaving it with one of the heavier per-capita burdens compared with other provinces.

In October 2022, Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith promised to quickly revamp the health-care system, saying at the time: “It’s going to get a little bit bumpy for the next 90 days.”

One thousand and seventy days later, SecondStreet’s report indicates it is still a bumpy road in Alberta.

In that 2022 speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Smith also said “We cannot continue on hearing stories of people dying in the back of ambulances or waiting for nine hours in an ambulance or waiting 29 hours on a hospital floor.”

SecondStreet’s access-to-information requests show Albertans will indeed not be hearing how many people die awaiting health care, but it is because the province no longer records that data.

When asked under freedom-of-information law how many Albertans have died while waiting, Alberta Health responded it “no longer tracks the information.”

By contrast, Nova Scotia disclosed that 352 patients died on surgical wait lists in 2021–22, with delays potentially implicated in 28 cases. Without similar reporting in Alberta, the number of deaths linked to wait lists is unknown.

Dom Lucyk, communications director for SecondStreet, said Alberta deserves some credit for releasing specialist data when many provinces do not, but that doesn’t obscure the growth in waits. “Diagnostic wait list has gone up by about 70,000 and the surgical wait list has gone up by about 6,000,” he said. “I think really the big takeaway is just that these numbers everywhere are far too high and that we really need to get started on some serious health reform.”

Lucyk said activity-based hospital funding, which Alberta plans to implement under the label “patient-focused funding,” could help. “Instead of a hospital getting a big cheque and the government saying, ‘Hey, go do your best,’ they’re actually funded in the majority based on the number of procedures they provide,” he said. “Of course, it could be done more quickly.”

Go elsewhere

For patients like Sherwood Park’s Mary Jane Faubert, Alberta’s delays left no choice but to go elsewhere.

“I really feel like Alberta Health Services has denied me of health care, to be honest, and they are forgetting about people like me who are not--I will say--really critical,” she said.

After being told her wait for a knee replacement could stretch more than a year, Faubert flew to Toronto to pay for surgery at a private clinic.

“Nine weeks ago, I paid out of pocket. I went to Clearpoint Surgical in Toronto, and I had my knee replacement done, and it was a fantastic experience,” she said. “What’s really sad is that this type of surgery and the type of service I got was exceptional. But shouldn’t all health care be exceptional no matter if you pay for it?”

Faubert said the procedure and travel cost her about $34,000, but she has no regrets.

“My life is starting to get back on track … and I have no regrets over spending this money--none,” she said.

Lucyk said Canada must look beyond blaming the pandemic.

“The myth that COVID is the cause of the problems in Canadian health care, I think we can officially sing a funeral hymn for that,” he said. “Really, it is a deep, systemic problem with the system. It’s not working as it should.”