A total of $105 million over three years will be put towards Alberta’s Rural Health Facilities Revitalization Program.
The program supports strategic renovations and developments in health facilities throughout the province, with an emphasis on emergency departments, EMS stations, surgical and dialysis clinics, and other clinical services to improve access to health care in rural Alberta.
“We are making sure we have the necessary funding in place to build and strengthen health care in our rural communities and address barriers to care for those looking for support and treatment close to home and family,” said Health Minister Jason Copping, in a statement.
The revitalization program includes $75 million in funding for new capital projects in rural Alberta. To date, about $65 million has been committed to 22 projects.
Over the next three years, $237 million will also go towards the Alberta Surgical Initiative Capital Program to help reduce surgical wait times and help Albertans receive the surgeries they need.
The funding includes $120 million for projects in 15 communities across the province to expand and modernize operating rooms in public hospitals.
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But NDP health care critic David Shepherd said empty buildings will not solve the crisis in health care Albertans are facing today.
“So far this week, emergency departments in Milk River, Daysland, Ponoka, and Smoky Lake had to temporarily close because of staffing shortages,” Shepherd said in a statement.
“Alberta does not have enough health-care workers to staff the hospitals we already have and not only has the UCP driven doctors out of the province but recent residency data clearly shows new doctors don’t want to practice here under a Danielle Smith government. There were 42 residency positions for family medicine students that went unfilled in Alberta while the University of British Columbia had only two unfilled seats.”
He said Alberta’s NDP Family Health Teams plan would support primary care through the significant expansion of team-based care to connect a million more Albertans with high quality and accessible primary care.
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Alberta’s surgery waitlist trends down
The UCP government says its Health Workforce Strategy provides $113 million to add 100 residency training spaces for newly graduated doctors, particularly in rural areas and specialist fields. Creating these new training spaces will provide more opportunities for Alberta students to learn, train and practise in their home communities.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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