Alberta children’s hospitals to receive $12M for beds and permanent staff

Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary and the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton are receiving $12 million and 113 permanent beds, the government announced Monday.

The funding, first announced as part of Alberta’s 2023 budget, will create 10 surge beds and six pediatric intensive care unit beds at Alberta Children’s Hospital, as well as 12 new surge beds and one pediatric intensive care unit bed at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

In addition, the funding will also expand the hours of “short stay surgical units” at both hospitals so they can remain open on the weekends.

The 113 permanent critical care positions that Alberta Health Services (AHS) are hiring will support the increase in beds. The positions will see 61 in Calgary and 52 in Edmonton.

The new staffing resources provide “additional capacity at children’s hospitals to meet the increasing demand for inpatient pediatric care.”

“We know we need more beds and staff in our health care system, including specialized beds for young Albertans and the professionals needed to support them. This new funding creates capacity in our system so we can respond to the evolving needs of Alberta families,” said Alberta Minister of Health Jason Copping.

RSV cases takes toll on children’s hospital

Katherine Lee Williams, a nurse clinician, says the past winter was the “hardest times I’ve ever worked” at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in 15 years.

At the time, the province was facing a backlog of patients suffering from viral infections like RSV, the flu, and COVID-19.

The hospital needed to provide a trailer outside to handle the backlog, along with redeploying staff from Rotary Flames House.

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“It means a lot, knowing that, inevitably, we’ll have another busy time coming our way. In this next year, I would anticipate,” Williams told CityNews.

“And just being able to have better baseline staff and safer staffing ratios so that we can provide really great care without having to strain ourselves through all of this. Because it was really difficult this last winter.”

She says the past winter was something she had never seen.

“There was so much overtime, even when people were already sort of at their end, just to help fill in the gaps. I think people went over and above because they really felt for the team. And it really is a fantastic team,” she explained.

“Being there for people makes you feel better, even if the right choice is maybe to take a bit of a break. And so I’m hoping that this [funding] will help alleviate some of that.”

Children’s hospital ‘fixed my heart’

Maddison Tory, a patient at the Alberta Children’s Hospital for 13 years and a university student, says the practitioners “fixed my heart and put the pieces of my lupus puzzle together” and “taught me how to thrive with a chronic illness.”

“The extra funding is honestly life-changing to both me, my family, and every single patient at the hospitals for children across Alberta,” she told CityNews.

“I always had peace of mind knowing that and had the confidence to go out into the world knowing that even if my chronic illness or heart condition acted up, I had a safe spot to come back to with equipment and treatments that could help me.”

She credits the hospital for helping her with the trauma she experienced prior to the surgeries she went through, along with helping her settle in.

“I had troubles going to sleep on my back, and so my doctor actually sat me up and put me to sleep while I was in a bear hug so that I was able to comfortably go to sleep,” she explained.

“And it’s really that extra attention to the patient-centred focus that really makes the difference to all of us patients here at the hospital.”

Meanwhile, Alberta NDP critic for health, David Shepard, says the “late-pre-election funding announcement can’t hide the damage Danielle Smith and the UCP have done to children’s health care across Alberta.”

“Dozens of rural emergency rooms are closed due to severe staffing shortages. Urban emergency rooms are overwhelmed, and ambulances are badly delayed,” his statement reads.

The statement comes as the province is slated for an election on May 29, with the writ dropping on May 1.

-With files from Nick Blakeney