Hundreds rally for Red Deer Regional Hospital
Hundreds of central Albertans gathered in the Memorial Centre parking lot in Red Deer Sunday afternoon to voice their concerns about unfair and inequitable healthcare funding for the AHS Central Zone.
Many local doctors are calling for a Cardiac Catheterization lab in the city and a whole new wing for the Red Deer Regional Hospital as just a starting point. However, it doesn’t appear as though any of those will come to pass anytime soon as Red Deer is no longer on the AHS Urgent Capital Priorities list, leaving residents of central Alberta to look elsewhere for cardiology care and other critical needs.
Other issues include a lack of hospital beds, operating rooms and emergency rooms.
Dr. Kym Jim is among a group of local physicians leading a grassroots movement to get some action on the issue. He says the Red Deer Regional Hospital is on pace to not receive a single, net-new hospital bed for the next 25 years. He says the last expansion at the RDRH was in 2003 when ten acute care beds were added.