$1.8 billion announced for Red Deer hospital expansion

Now, the province says that over the coming three years, an initial investment of $193 million will be made. In the end, there will be 200 new in-patient beds, increasing hospital capacity from 370 beds to 570 beds, or by 54 per cent.

Expansion will also include three new operating rooms, increasing the total for Red Deer to 14 rooms, plus a new cardiac catheterization lab.

“For too long, central Albertans have been waiting for these critical upgrades and expansion of the Red Deer Regional Hospital. That’s why we’ve made expanding the Red Deer Regional Hospital a priority, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Premier Kenney. “Alberta’s Recovery Plan has already seen healthcare infrastructure built from Grande Prairie to Calgary, and now, it’s making sure world-class health care is there for Red Deer and central Alberta for years to come with the largest investment in the history of central Alberta.”

Red Deer-North MLA and Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, who shared a personal story about capacity struggles at the hospital dating back to 2000, called the ‘extremely significant’ announcement ‘long overdue.’

“This historical investment means that central Albertans will benefit from increased surgical and in-patient capacity, benefiting our community in ways that were previously not possible. In addition, I am so pleased that local patients will finally have a cardiac catheterization lab as part of this amazing expansion, which will literally save lives,” she says. “As the third-largest city in the province, this expansion will go a long way in providing the medical care and attention we have long needed and strongly advocated for.”

Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston was also in attendance, saying, “This is a monumental day for our city and for the central Alberta region. It is with extreme gratitude that we recognize the provincial government for this significant investment in the care of central Albertans.”

Full statement from Red Deer Mayor Ken Johnston:

Today, @YourAlberta announced $1.8 billion towards an expansion project for the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, one of the busiest hospitals in AB. We thank the province for prioritizing the health of Red Deerians and Central Albertans. #reddeer https://t.co/oeXyuG3Cmx

— The City of Red Deer (@CityofRedDeer) February 23, 2022

SOCIETY FOR HOSPITAL EXPANSION IN CENTRAL ALBERTA (SHECA)

Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre is the busiest outside Calgary and Edmonton, and has the fourth-highest volume of any AHS facility, a release notes.

That’s something Dr. Keith Wolstenholme, an orthopedic surgeon at Red Deer Regional, knows all about.

Wolstenholme, a SHECA member, who’s spoken to rdnewsNOW on this issue several times, says when he heard the premier utter the words “$1.8 billion,” he shed a few tears.

“I was so overwhelmed and happy. My first reaction is that this is absolutely amazing and incredible, but we just have to keep our foot on the gas and make sure it all comes to pass,” he says. “Dollar-wise, I think this is what we were hoping for, but honestly it exceeds my expectations. It is what it should be though.”

If there’s anything of concern for Wolstenholme, it’s the announced three new operating rooms. Wolstenholme says a 2015 needs assessment identified an expansion of three was needed by 2025, so by the time this project is complete, that number will likely be higher.

“Hopefully that’s just an initial number and this whole process will be flexible enough to respond to evolving needs,” he says touching on staffing challenges. “We definitely need an integrated plan to get from here to there. We are struggling now as far as human resources go, and while it’s partially true that if you build it, they will come, we need to find a way to make Red Deer and central Alberta an attractive place to move to, work and remain.

Dr. Kym Jim, an internal medicine specialist and nephrologist, has served as the voice of SHECA since its inception five years ago this month.

Jim agrees the dollar amount was not expected, but is what’s “owed to” central Albertans, he says.

“Ten to 15 years ago, advocacy work started on this. Now we see families going to Calgary and Edmonton because we don’t have the space, we have long ER wait times, and people are having poor outcomes, particularly with cardiac events because we don’t have catheterization here. The announcement is bittersweet in that it’s wonderful we have this commitment, but unfortunate we don’t see this here today already,’ says Jim.

“SHECA is a board of about 12 people who’ve put in enormous amounts of time and effort to advocate for this. It was only through Freedom of Information requests about five years ago which validated our claim that per capita health care spending was eight to ten-times higher for areas outside of Red Deer. That catalyzed our board.”

Jim says the announcement today validates what they’ve always said is true, that central Albertans have been deprived of health care spending for decades.

“These will be the first hospital beds created in central Alberta in 25 years,” Jim adds. “The stress of it all has been bourne by the patients. They’re the ones on the receiving end of the inadequacies of the system. From the physicians’ perspective, it’s mostly frustration that we can’t deliver the care we should be able to.”

Jim warns the state of things will get worse before it becomes better, simply because eight years is a long time to wait and things are already tough.

He laments the fact that today’s announcement doesn’t include funding for programs that would enhance care without new physical infrastructure. That includes cardiac rehab services, pacemaker enhancement, respiratory medicine programming, and out-patient programs already proposed to the powers that be.

A CAPITAL PERSPECTIVE

Doctors Jim and Wolstenholme have been invited to Edmonton on Thursday by Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan to take in the budget, where the dollar amounts will become official.

The opposition NDP also chimed in Wednesday, saying the announcement represents an offer of the same broken promise.

“Albertans can’t trust the UCP,” says David Shepherd, NDP Health Critic. “When Kenney shows up in Red Deer with another pack of promises, folks in Red Deer have every right to be skeptical seeing as the funding and the shovels in the ground the UCP promised two years ago have never appeared.”

Shepherd says Kenney’s timing of the announcement is suspect, given his impending leadership review this spring.

The full press conference can be viewed below

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by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19) and Sheldon Spackman

$1.8 billion announced for Red Deer hospital expansion

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