Edmonton hallway medicine troubling given it’s supposed to be slow period, NDP says

Alberta’s Opposition NDP says it is especially troubling that Edmonton hospitals are putting patients in hallways given that this is a traditionally slow time of the year.

NDP critic Sarah Hoffman, a former health minister, says August is typically the month when patient levels are among the lowest before ramping up for the fall and winter seasons, when viral illnesses are more prevalent.

Hoffman said it’s “scary” to envision what will be happening in the months to come.

The NDP was reacting to Edmonton zone hospital units being directed this week to relieve pressures on emergency departments by taking one extra patient over capacity, forcing those patients to be cared for in hallways.

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Alberta Health Services has said it’s a short-term measure in response to overcrowding following a summer long weekend and more patients requiring isolation.

These problems are occurring in hospitals in other provinces, but Hoffman says Alberta’s UCP government accelerated the chaos by chasing professionals away after tearing up the master contract with doctors and fighting at one point to cut nurses’ salaries.

Hoffman says the government needs to rebuild those relationships as the first step to fixing the overcrowding issue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2022.