Stollery Children's Hospital hopes Alberta budget will commit to new stand-alone facility

The Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation wants to see a "strong signal of support" toward building a new standalone facility in Tuesday's provincial budget.

Opened in 2001 as part of the University of Alberta Hospital, the Stollery provides pediatric care to central and northern Alberta, with the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and northeastern British Columbia all part of its catchment area.

With a growing population in Alberta and space already at a premium, the time is now to start building a new facility for children's care, says Katherine Sweet, the hospital foundation's strategic partnership director.

"There are two children's hospitals for kids, and there are 104 for adults in Alberta," Sweet told CTV News Edmonton.

"We think it's time that the Stollery was in a purpose-built space of its own," she added. "Right now, the space doesn't simply match the talent."

According to the hospital's foundation, more than 317,000 patients visit the Stollery annually, with 37 per cent of inpatients from outside of Edmonton. There are nearly 54,000 emergency room visits annually and the facility is a national leader in organ transplants.

The space the Stollery uses was designed in the 1970s and built a decade later, Sweet said, for an entirely different era of health care.

"The way that pediatric care is delivered today takes into account that the whole family is often around," Sweet added. "You need space for other family members, for new technologies."

In July 2021, the province announced it would split $2 million with the Stollery foundation to begin capital planning work. To date, Alberta Health Services has completed a needs assessment study confirming the demand for a new hospital.

Alberta Infrastructure is completing a business-case analysis, with work expected to be completed in June.

Sweet said the Stollery is Canada's second-largest children's hospital by bed count and there remains little room to expand. The foundation has started a letter-writing campaign and is committed to raising $250 million to construct the new hospital.

The United Conservative Party-led government will table its last budget Tuesday before Alberta's general election slated for May.

"Alberta needs a new Stollery Children's Hospital," Sweet said. "We hope there might be positive news in the budget that is coming out."