Alberta health officials to deliver update on hospital capacity as doctors declare crisis

Alberta’s minister of hospitals says a province-wide strategy has begun to ease the strain on the acute care system as frontline doctors continue to declare that provincial hospitals are dangerously overcrowded. 

During a news conference Thursday, Matt Jones, Alberta's minister of hospital and surgical Health Services, said hospitals, especially in Calgary and Edmonton, have been experiencing "significant pressure" in recent weeks.

He said, however, there is relief in sight. Officials believe the worst of the flu season is over and efforts to better manage elevated patient loads are working.

“Hospital and emergency department pressures are very real," Jones said. "Along with the seasonal rise in respiratory virus season, our high population growth, our aging and more medically complex population and even cold weather all exacerbate these pressures. 

“Fortunately, we are now beginning to see signs that the situation is easing.” 

Alberta health officials have said the province is navigating a particularly difficult flu season, which has placed considerable strain on hospital emergency departments. 

The agency said Monday it is working to create additional capacity with measures that include dedicating 336 beds for flu patients, accelerating patient discharges when possible and opening designated surge spaces to manage increased demand.

According to David Diamond, interim CEO of Acute Care Alberta, the inpatient occupancy in the province's large hospitals sits at 102 per cent, including temporary and surge spaces that are currently open to meet the elevated demand.

Respiratory virus hospital admissions are down from a peak of 995 at the end of December to 675 today, he said.

He said, despite some relief, the system is facing "sustained pressure" and it may take some time for the system to recover from the surge in patients.

Hospital officials are also expected to provide an update an investigation into the death of a patient inside the emergency department of Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Community Hospital.

Prashant Sreekumar, 44, died on Dec. 22 after allegedly waiting nearly eight hours to see a doctor about his chest pain.

Acute Care Alberta, a new provincial agency tasked with overseeing urgent, short-term hospital care, including emergency departments, and Covenant Health, which operates the Grey Nuns, launched a joint review into the circumstances around his death.

Physicians have been calling for an urgent response to improve patient care as hospitals across the province contend with staffing and capacity issues.