By rdnewsNOW staff

$100M capital investment

WATCH: Province announces plan to reduce surgical wait times

Mar 4, 2020 | 11:50 AM

The provincial government has announced $100 million in capital funding aimed at reducing surgical wait times in Alberta.

The province says the investment will help hospitals across the province upgrade their operating rooms to provide thousands more surgeries to Albertans.

The plan includes renovations at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre so it can perform more endoscopy procedures. The province says this will in turn create more space in the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre to focus on more complex surgeries.

Low-risk surgeries will also be moved out of Red Deer Regional to be offered in Innisfail, Stettler, Ponoka and Olds.

“These choices are going to be provided by the physician. It’s not a patient deciding whether they’re going to go to Innisfail or Red Deer,” Health Minister Tyler Shandro explained. “This is going to be about what’s available to the physicians for them to be able to make the decisions about where the right facility is for the right procedure.”

hearing regional perspectives

Putting a face to the Bank of Canada; deputy governor visits Red Deer

1h ago

safety tips

Red Deer RCMP promote railway safety with Operation Life Saver

1h ago

for a good cause

Old Red Deer parking meters find new life with AMA

19h ago

Dr. Verna Yiu, AHS President and CEO, highlighted one example where this is already being done.

“If you’re a patient in Red Deer and are needing to have cataract surgery, then it’s pretty well known that cataracts are being done in Innisfail,” she highlighted. “The surgical team goes out to Innisfail, the patient goes out to Innisfail, all the information that’s provided to the patient about where they need to go, and the patient then goes to that facility. There’s really no change.”

The $100 million in capital funding also includes upgrades to 12 operating rooms at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre, and renovations to operating departments at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.

Officials say the capital investment will help AHS add over 17,000 surgeries this fiscal year, and that up to 30,000 additional surgeries will be available to Albertans by 2023.