Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman confirmed Red Deer hospital’s expansion will move up the government spending priority list if a business plan determines it’s a priority.
Having sustainable quality health care for Central Alberta includes having the right buildings to support that, she said, while visiting Friday with residents of a Red Deer nursing home.
“We realize there’s more to be done with Red Deer hospital; that’s one reason we put $1 million into planning…”
If the business plan that’s now underway for the local hospital determines its infrastructure is lacking, Hoffman said this will be addressed in government capital planning. “We will not waste time.”
While the hospital expansion isn’t in the government’s current five-year capital plan, she said it could be added, since her department reconsiders priorities annually.
It’s a tough economy and “nobody wants to have debt on the books, but we can’t afford to have people having sub-quality care, so we’re moving ahead with this capital planning piece to ensure we have the right investments in place for Central Alberta,” said Hoffman.
When asked why Red Deer hospital is being studied again — even through a study done three years ago showed it lacks space, and doctors say the situation has worsened — Hoffman said it’s because several provincial studies are now being done, for example on cardiac care, and the government needs the most up-to-date information.
The minister said Red Deer hospital has required changes for the last decade, but the previous Tory government ignored the problem, while her New Democrat government is taking action.
A Red Deer doctors’ group, advocating for 96 more hospital beds, three more operating rooms, 18 emergency treatment stretchers, and a cardiac catheterization unit, welcomed the $1-million business plan as a good first step.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter