By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

WATCH: Hospital expansion a decade overdue, says Health Minister

Apr 13, 2018 | 2:10 PM

Alberta’s Health Minister is adamant that her government is cognizant of how badly Red Deer needs its hospital services expanded.

Minister Sarah Hoffman was in Red Deer on Friday to visit with patients at Points West Living continuing care facility.

When asked about potential hospital expansion, Hoffman noted the $1 million announced in the recent provincial budget to plan and ultimately put together a business case.

“We know that Red Deer has been serving a large volume for a number of years and expansion should’ve probably been done more than a decade ago,” she said.

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“But we’re here now and even during this difficult downturn, we know it’s important to protect healthcare and protect the folks throughout our province. We want to make sure we have a strong healthcare system for future generations.”

There is currently a needs assessment being done with results expected sometime in the next several weeks.

Hoffman indicated that should the needs assessment show hospital expansion is needed, the project will be moved onto Alberta Health Services’ priority list. Though many residents are tired of hearing about studies, Hoffman said it’s key that the latest information be obtained before moving forward.

“We have definitely made it clear that we want sustainable quality healthcare and that includes having the right buildings to support that,” Hoffman continued. “Nobody wants to have debt on the books, but we also can’t afford to have people getting sub-quality care, so we’re moving forward with this capital planning piece to make sure we have the right investments for Red Deer and central Alberta.”

Hoffman added that while the NDP are constantly getting called out by their opponents, giving in to the opposition’s demands would only result in deep cuts to frontline workers and infrastructure.