EDMONTON — This morning, Premier Smith and Minister LaGrange announced that the government is partnering with Covenant Health, Alberta’s Catholic public hospital operator, to create two new health care facilities in Airdrie; a new Urgent Care and Birthing Centre as well as a Primary, Surgical and Ambulatory Care Centre.
“The expansion of local health care services in Airdrie is good news and long overdue. The fact that more Airdrie residents will be able to deliver babies and have surgeries without needing to travel into Calgary will be a relief to many,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “But we are disappointed that today’s announcement lacks costing and a timeline for its completion, and doesn’t include a plan to build the full hospital with an Emergency Department and acute care beds that this community requires now, and in the coming years.”
The government estimates that the planned new infrastructure will create annual capacity for 30,000 urgent care visits, 1,000 deliveries and 10,000 day-surgery procedures. No costing, timelines, or operating details were provided with today’s announcement, nor did they confirm whether all services will be delivered publicly. There was also no mention of plans for a full hospital that could include services such as an Emergency Department.
“Airdrie residents have been clear for years that they want a hospital in their community. They want somewhere they can go in an emergency. They’re calling for somewhere with full obstetrics services even if a delivery is complicated, and they want the ability for overnight stays and other life-saving services to be provided locally, without worrying about highway conditions and travel time into Calgary,” said Gallaway. “For years, Airdrie has heard promises heading into elections but been left waiting once voting is done. It begs the question whether Airdrie would have seen this announcement if last week’s Calgary-Shaw by-election had gone differently. The government needs to think longer term and actually provide certainty that these health care services will actually be built in the upcoming provincial budget.”
Earlier this year, a packed room of residents showed up to Friends of Medicare town hall in Airdrie to share concerns about their access to public health care, and the message was clear: they want a hospital. Airdrie is by far the largest city in Alberta without a hospital, leaving residents to rely on Calgary for most of their health care services, while the city’s existing, recently-renovated 24-hour Urgent Care centre already sees nearly 40,000 patients a year. The population has grown by 50% over the past decade, and the city is projected to swell to 117,210 residents by 2031, when the facility is scheduled to open.
“In today's press conference, the government repeatedly tried to blame Alberta Health Services for the lack of services in Airdrie, rather than take responsibility for its own choices that neglected the region's needs,” said Gallaway. “It is important to remember that it was their government who paused the expansion of Airdrie’s existing urgent care centre, delaying the project’s competition. It was their government who wasted time on secret back-room deals to privatize urgent care services in Airdrie, and it was their government who passed 7 consecutive provincial budgets with no capital money for building new health care infrastructure in the Airdrie region, beyond some recent money for planning.”
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