Date of publication: 30 Apr 2022 • 9 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 55 Comments The front entrance of the Regional Hospital of Red Deer. Postmedia, archive
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Some general surgeries will be diverted from Red Deer Regional Hospital to other health centers in central Alberta as well as Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta Health Services confirmed on Saturday.
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As of Friday, some surgical patients have been removed from the facility, said AHS spokeswoman Kerry Williamson. He said the move is temporary as the AHS tries to resume normal surgery. In the meantime, patients will be sent to surgical sites at other facilities in places such as Camrose, Rocky Mountain House and Drumheller. Some patients will be sent to Calgary. “Patients with scheduled procedures, emergencies that cannot be safely transported, and on-call coverage for existing inpatients will continue to be provided at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Center,” Williamson said in an email. “We recognize that this will cause some anxiety and stress in some of our surgical patients, however we have exhausted all efforts to avoid this temporary diversion.”
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Williamson said only general surgeries would be affected, including conditions such as appendicitis, bowel resections, laparotomies and gallbladder removal. “These measures are due to a number of factors, including the lack of clinical assistants to support the general surgery program,” Williamson said. “The situation will be reviewed and evaluated regularly as recruitment efforts continue and will be lifted as soon as possible.” An internal note released to Postmedia states that AHS will review the diversion on a weekly basis. Although the AHS has taken every measure to avoid diversion, the note also states that it must be done to maintain patient care. The general surgeons will remain on standby to treat patients who are too unstable to move and to continue treatment, according to the document.
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In a comment late Saturday night, Alberta Health said it “regrets that some general surgery patients are diverted from Red Deer” and added that they are working with AHS to address staffing gaps and continue regular surgeries at the site. “Health systems across Canada have been under pressure since the two years of the pandemic. At the same time, we are seeing high numbers of patients, according to winter peak tumors, “said Steve Buick, Health Secretary Jason Copping. Buick added that the county has committed $ 1.8 billion to the redevelopment of Red Deer Regional Hospital. David Shepard, an official opposition health critic, said the closures could be linked directly to the UCP government and called on it to present a plan to rectify the problem and better fund the provincial health care system.
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“It simply comes to our notice then. “And I draw a direct line in that back to the UCP government,” Shepherd said. “Their choices throughout the pandemic to push this system to the limit only exhaust our workforce in the health sector.” NDP health critic David Shepherd during a press conference in Edmonton, Monday, December 13, 2021. Photo by Photo Shepherd said earlier this week there were a number of ambulances outside Red Deer Hospital waiting to gain access to the emergency room. He said his heart was with the Red Deer residents affected by the diversion and that he hoped the measure would be short-lived. “Unfortunately, there are no short-term, immediate solutions here,” Shepherd said. “We can not produce more health workers.” Buick criticized the NDP criticism as “empty politics”.
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“The NDP has been watching for four years as waiting times for surgery and other delays got worse and it did nothing about it, and now they are blaming any pressure on the government, as if the pandemic only affected Alberta,” Buick said. The diversion comes at a time when AHS is facing bed closures in other parts of central Alberta. The Myron Thompson Health Center in Sundre has no temporary maternity services, while Rocky Mountain House is experiencing a temporary staff shortage leading to a reduction in acute care beds at the community health center. Several other communities in central and northern Alberta had temporary bed or space cuts on Friday, the AHS website showed on Saturday. [email protected]com
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