'It's not safe': Alberta Medical Association concerned with patient diversions for emergency surgery

The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is drawing attention to what it says is a shortage of medical professionals needed to perform general surgeries across the province.

"Hospitals simply cannot function without having general surgeons available," said Dr. Paul Parks, president of the AMA.

"The chronic shortages of health care professionals that you've been hearing about are hitting general surgery patients particularly hard," added Dr. Lloyd Mack, president of the AMA's general surgery section.

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During a news conference on Monday, the physicians said the lack of staff has led to an increasing number of "diversions" for patients needing emergency surgery.

"There's an increasing chance that you might end up being seen and stabilized in one emergency department and then unfortunately have to be packaged up and put back in an ambulance," said Dr. Parks.

Patients are then taken to another hospital that has enough staff.

"It comes down to availability of staff who work with the surgeon and the support team," said Dr. Mack.

"If those team members aren't there, I can't accept the patient from the emergency room. The ER is effectively closed to surgical patients and the patient has to be sent elsewhere," he added.

Alberta Health Services did not provide the number of diversions that were required for emergency surgery in 2023 and 2024 when asked by CTV News Edmonton.

"Surgical diversions are only activated when all available resources have been utilized and all other mitigations have been exhausted," a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

"When diversion is required, our teams work closely with clinicians and sites to ensure we can continue to provide high-quality care where the resources are best able to meet the patient needs," the statement continued.

"It's not safe," said Dr. Mack.

"Delay means probable complications. It may mean more severe illness very quickly, and in the worst case scenario, a patient can die from these illnesses," he said.

"This isn't a new issue, but it is becoming critical and having a very significant impact on the lives of Albertans," added Dr. Parks.

The AMA is launching a six-week information campaign focused on general surgery. Dr. Mack said letting the public know there's a problem is the first step.

"Then we need to invest to ensure that we have those important Tier 1 supports, clinical assistants, physician assistants and nurse practitioners," said Dr. Mack.

"We simply can't do surgery or our jobs without them," he said.

The AMA said it outlined funding incentives that would address the urgent need for health care professionals in its Hospital Stabilization Plan presented to the UCP government in December 2023.

"This will help at least stabilize and create an environment that we can go forward, that we can actually find the people, train the people," said Dr. Parks.

"That'll allow us to create a plan going forward that will allow us to grow that workforce in a meaningful way that can protect these services," he said.

The press secretary to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said the province is making investments to increase capacity so people "can get the surgeries they need quicker."

"This includes $618 million to upgrade and improve operating rooms across the province and make sure we stay on pace to perform a record number of surgeries this year," said Andrea Smith.

She said "thousands" of Albertans are having publicly funded surgeries at chartered facilities.

"This is freeing up operating rooms in hospitals to handle more complex surgeries," she said.

Smith did not answer CTV News Edmonton's questions about diversions for emergency surgeries or what the government is doing to address staffing concerns.

"We do need government to share the urgency on the fixes here," said Dr. Parks.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski