On the left, a screenshot from a video showing Dr. Gary Davidson speaking to a crowd on Sept. 19 in Olds, and a previously supplied photo of Davidson on the right.

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

former chief of emergency

AHS calls Red Deer doctor’s claims false and disappointing

Sep 24, 2021 | 5:30 PM

A doctor working in the emergency department at Red Deer Regional Hospital is under fire for recent comments he made to members of the public.

A video on Facebook shows what is purported to be Dr. Gary Davidson, the hospital’s former chief of emergency medicine, in a barn near Olds on Sept. 19, speaking to what appears and sounds to be a large group of people.

It’s unclear if any of them are masked. A Red Deer emergency doctor, speaking to rdnewsNOW anonymously, verified to us that the person speaking is Dr. Davidson.

In the video, Davidson makes several bold claims, which Alberta Health Services tells rdnewsNOW are completely false.

“My last shift was very slow. There have been slow and quick days, but it’s definitely slowed down,” Davidson tells the crowd, saying at one point he had zero patients for three hours. “As soon as numbers droop, they put us in a lockdown so it looks like the lockdown fixed everything, and they’ve done this every time.”

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The crowd can be heard gasping at the claim, and then clapping when Davidson tells them he stays off social media, doesn’t listen to the news, “or do any of that nonsense.”

He goes on to claim that 425 ICU and critical care staff have quit, and questions the validity of overall capacity issues, stating there are 8,000 beds in the province.

“This is a mess, but we have capacity,” says Davidson, who unsuccessfully ran for the Red Deer-South UCP nomination in 2019. “It’s funny because we got less today, which is strange. I didn’t know we could do that in a pandemic.”

Davidson claims too that since 2009, there have been a number of ventilators just “kickin’ around.” He claims the ventilators number 2,500 and are currently unspoken for.

“The numbers are inaccurate. The information provided in this video is false,” says a statement from AHS Communications. “The opinions (in the video) do not accurately reflect the COVID-19 pandemic, the AHS pandemic response, or the situation at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. In addition, they do a disservice to the incredible work our frontline teams do every day.”

AHS says the spreading of misinformation is disappointing, and that Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre continues to see a high demand for services from COVID and non-COVID patients.

As of Thursday afternoon, 22 of 26 ICU beds at Red Deer Regional were filled with COVID patients. Fourteen of the 26 beds are additional spaces added on top of the usual 12.

“It is not unusual to see the number of patients presenting to the Emergency Department ebb and flow. That has happened before COVID and continues to now; however ED visits remain steady,” AHS says. “There have been times in the past where staffing concerns have been a challenge, but we have worked diligently to recruit staff, including hiring that has occurred this week.”

AHS also takes aim at Davidson’s claims that numbers were declining when restrictions were announced last week.

“The numbers don’t support that at all. Between Sept. 9 and 16, provincial hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased by 32 per cent, from 679 to 896 inpatients,” the health authority notes. “For the week preceding that, provincial hospitalizations increased by 39 per cent.”

On Sept. 9, there were 17 COVID patients in Red Deer’s ICU, and 21 a week later.

Premier Jason Kenney announced new restrictions Sept. 15.

“The College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) is aware of the video on social media involving claims from an Alberta physician regarding COVID-19 and hospital capacity. This is very concerning to CPSA. As we know from daily provincial case counts, the COVID-19 situation is putting extreme pressure on our hospitals and ICU resources,” says CPSA Communications Advisor Melissa Campbell.

“Spreading misinformation does not align with a physician’s professional responsibility to their patients. While we are unable to speak to individual cases, CPSA has a responsibility to Albertans to investigate regulated members who are sharing inaccurate and potentially harmful information.”

rdnewsNOW attempted several routes to get a hold of Dr. Davidson, but were unsuccessful.