Alberta’s hospitals operating at 102%, minister denies poor planning to blame

Provincial officials recognizing Thursday the extreme strain on Alberta’s emergency rooms and hospitals during an exceptional respiratory illness season.

The update comes as the Alberta Medical Association calls on the province to declare a state of emergency in healthcare.

Interim CEO of Acute Care Alberta, David Diamond says the province’s 16 largest hospitals have been operating at 102 per cent. He says the ideal operating capacity is between 85 and 90 per cent.

Minister of Hospital and Surgical Services, Matt Jones, reiterated the message from Alberta’s chief medical officer of health that the worst of the season is behind us.

“Encouraging signs show influenza has peaked and hospitalizations are declining, while we continue expanding capacity so Albertans receive care when and where they need it,” he said.

As of Jan. 14, 675 patients are in hospital, including in intensive care units, due to respiratory viruses.

At the peak of the season on Dec. 30, the province says 995 people were in hospital.

Provincial data shows emergency inpatients have decrease over the last week, from 443 on Jan. 7 to 335 on Jan. 14.

Criticism has been levelled against the government for what is alleged to have been poor planning.

“I think it would be unfair to characterize the health system’s response to this respiratory virus season as reactionary because in reality planning was done months in advance, investments were made months in advance and really the culmination of that work is that we were able to weather the busy portion of this respiratory virus season the way that we have,” he said.

Jones admitted there should be more acute care beds, especially in Edmonton, but denied accusations that the healthcare system in Alberta is being “starved.”

He says the solution to the issue is a long-term capital plan in order to lay the foundation appropriate to care for the province’s growing population.

Jones says the province is taking coordinated actions across the health system to relieve pressure and maintain access to care.

Among these efforts are the activation of surge and overcapacity beds, opening temporary beds where staffing allows, using designated surge spaces, speeding up safe discharges and transfers and limiting non-essential inbound transfers to the busiest hospitals.

Acute Care Alberta has also led daily collaboration across all sectors of the system, including Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health, to manage patient flow, staffing, and real-times pressures in emergency departments and inpatient units, according to the province.