Alberta's health minister says help is coming for children's hospitals
Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says help is on the way to deal with strain on the province's two children's hospitals as they deal with a rise in respiratory illnesses.
A surge in patients at Alberta's Children's Hospital prompted Alberta Health Services to redeploy staff to the hospital from a facility that provides respite care for chronically and terminally ill children.
Health officials have said the Calgary hospital and the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton have been operating at or above 100 per cent of their normal capacity during the past month.
"Help is coming,'' Copping said Monday during a news conference on another topic.
"Our system is under strain, there's no doubt about that. This is not just unique to Albertans children's hospital(s). We're seeing impacts across the entire country.''
Children's hospitals across Canada have seen a surge in patients, including those affected by COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Alberta Health Services, which delivers health care in the province, also set up a heated trailer outside the emergency department at Alberta Children's Hospital last month to help with crowding and weather conditions.
Copping said there are some signs that the situation could soon improve.
"We may be hitting the peak of this current flu that's circulating,'' he said, adding data from schools shows student absentee rates are on a downward trend and wastewater data for COVID-19 shows it's stable.
He said the province is still working to add resources to the health system.
Copping said there's no immediate plan to replicate what's happening in Ontario by postponing pediatric surgeries or bringing in outside agencies to help.
"We are not hearing any of that right now,'' he said.
Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley called the surge in pediatric cases at Alberta children's hospitals alarming.
"These children need our help,'' she said during question period.
Notley then asked Premier Danielle Smith what she would do to prevent pediatric surgeries from being cancelled.
"We already know that the wait in emergency rooms is way too long,'' Smith said in response. "That's part of the reason I appointed Dr. John Cowell as chief administrator (of Alberta Health Services) so we can be making these decisions in a very rapid way.''
Smith said she expects to have something more to say on the issue as early as Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.