Edmonton-area emergency room wait times are the longest in Alberta, and readers argue the root cause is a severe shortage of hospital beds. According to data from Alberta Health Services, the region has only 1.4 hospital beds per 1,000 residents, far below the provincial average of 2.5 and the national average of 2.7. The G7 countries average 3.5 beds per 1,000, and every U.S. state has more beds per capita than Edmonton.
Readers demand new hospital construction
In a letter to the editor published Wednesday, Bob Thompson of Edmonton stated that Premier Danielle Smith must recognize that renaming departments or adjusting patient flows will not solve the crisis. “Another hospital (preferably two) needs to be built,” Thompson wrote. “Continued dithering and delaying only makes the problem worse and endangers the citizens she was elected to serve.”
Thompson highlighted that while Alberta’s healthcare system is often praised, access remains the critical barrier. “We continue to brag about how wonderful our health-care system is and that brag is accurate, once you can get into it,” he added.
Referendums vs. healthcare priorities
Anas Khan of Beaumont criticized the government for focusing on referendums and oil revenue debates instead of building the urgently needed hospital. “The public is left wondering why these priorities are so out of order,” Khan wrote. He suggested adding a referendum question: “Do you want a hospital?” just to force the government to acknowledge reality.
Khan emphasized that a functioning healthcare system is a basic requirement, not a luxury. “If the government truly wants to demonstrate accountability, it should start by addressing the services people rely on every day, and building the hospital should be at the top of that list,” he said.
Personal experience underscores system strain
Another reader, who wrote while sitting beside a relative in the Misericordia emergency waiting room, described a 10-hour wait that began at 2 a.m. “Every hospital bed is full and they can’t admit patients out of emergency cubicles into the beds,” the reader recounted. “Every cubicle is full and only one or two patients seem to move from the waiting room to the treatment area every hour.”
The reader called on the government to shelve the “silly referendum and the idiotic separation movement” and focus on Albertans’ needs. “The health system is broken. The staff do their best but the government needs to step up,” they wrote, adding that privatizing joint surgery will not improve ER wait times.
