'We need action immediately': Red Deer leaders were pleading for help years before triaged ER patient's death
While people in Red Deer, Alta., mourn the loss of a triaged patient who died Sunday while awaiting care inside a hospital, some leaders in that community are making it known its health-care problems are not new.
"This is something that really transcends politics. You know, the death of a person that is trying to access basic medical services," said a sombre Mayor Ken Johnston.
Johnston offered condolences to the patient's family, and to local health-care workers who he believes are doing their best in "substandard" working conditions.
The mayor pointed out people in Red Deer have been sounding the alarm on health-care capacity for about 10 years, through PC, NDP and UCP governments.
"This part of Alberta is short on funding and short on infrastructure and we're just looking for what we think is equity, fairness," Johnston said. "If that message isn't ringing loud and clear this morning, I don't know what message would be clearly."
Wait times at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre peaked at 14 hours last weekend.
Alberta Health Services claims the hospital was fully staffed and an investigation is underway to determine if a long wait contributed to Sunday's death.
AHS acknowledged wait times were long due to a surge in demand and an increase in "very sick patients."
"I'm taking this matter very seriously, I've asked AHS for a report and they're looking into it," Health Minister Jason Copping said Monday while acknowledging an "infrastructure deficit" in central Alberta.
'I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING FURTHER'
But according to a surgeon who works in that hospital, long wait times are nothing new.
Dr. Keith Wolstenholme told CTV News that RDRHC almost always runs at near or over 100 per cent capacity due to a shortage of beds.
"A patient that has been seen, assessed, needs to get to a bed...but there's no available bed. So they're occupying an emerg stretcher and that means somebody in the waiting room can't come to that emerg stretcher because there's already somebody in it," Wolstenholme explained.
"We had a big problem before and it's not gotten any better. It's probably gotten worse."
In 2015, an assessment by AHS found that the hospital was short 96 beds and 18 emergency room stretchers. Seven years later, no additional beds have been added.
Alberta has allocated $59 million for a hospital expansion, but that is less than the $100 million that was originally promised.
Copping was asked for an update on that Monday, but he said he couldn't provide specifics.
"We fully understand the need for increased infrastructure within the central zone. Work is being done on that, but I can't tell you anything further," he said.
That lack of information, and a continuing rush of COVID-19 patients across Alberta, has Red Deer doctors and its mayor with more questions than answers about what to do right now.
"Central Alberta and Red Deer can't wait any longer for this. We need action and we need action immediately," argued Dr. Kym Jim with the Society For Hospital Expansion in Central Alberta.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.