Province expands services at Lethbridge's Chinook Regional Hospital

Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge.

The Alberta government says funding announced in Budget 2023 will help expand services at Lethbridge's main hospital to address the needs of patients in the region.

The budget includes $237 million over three years to pay for operating room upgrades as well as $11.2 million to improve the Chinook Regional Hospital's (CRH) renal dialysis program.

Another $2 million will bolster cardiac services there.

"We are making important investments to reduce health care wait times and boost access to surgeries in Lethbridge and across the province," said Health Minister Jason Copping in a release.

"Budget 2023 will improve access to care at the CRH for patients with chronic kidney disease in need of life-saving dialysis and the expansion of the operating rooms will deliver more surgeries within the clinically recommended time for many more Albertans."

The funding is also expected to pay for a redevelopment at the hospital that will "double the existing surgical procedure capacity" and "renovate the current medical device reprocessing area."

Nathan Neudorf, Alberta's minister of infrastructure, calls both of these "critical projects."

"Expanding operating space and surgical procedure capacity, addressing the overcapacity challenges for dialysis patients, and planning for future cardiac care programs will ensure people living in and around Lethbridge will have access to the care they need, close to home," he said.

The expanded cardiac services are part of the government's strategy to provide more services for patients in the region, officials say.

"This strategic investment also delivers on the commitment made in the health care action plan to focus on the greatest needs of rural Albertans," the government said in a statement.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says progress has also been made on a few other issues facing Lethbridge's health-care system.

In order to address a shortage of obstetricians in the community, a "physician-led prenatal clinic" was established at the hospital.

"The clinic is taking patients referred by their primary care physician and will continue to see them for up to one year," AHS said in a statement to CTV News.

Efforts are being made to recruit additional obstetrics and gynecology care to support the community. Two OBGYNs are on leave from CRH and are both expected to return later this year. As has been previous practice, we will continue to bring in locum OBGYN physicians to ensure appropriate on-call coverage for obstetrical patients."

However, the number of permanent OBGYNs in Lethbridge hasn't changed since last October – there is still only one.

AHS says strides are also being made in terms of family physicians for residents, with 17 committing to practice in the city.

"As of April 13, 2023, 12 physicians have begun practicing," AHS said. "As they work through their (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta) practice readiness assessments, (PRA), it is anticipated that one will begin by the end of April, and the final four between May and December."

The work to fill those positions is still underway, however, as AHS said five more open positions were posted online recently.

"One new family physician was recently interviewed and has a site visit to Lethbridge in May. A second physician has been interviewed, and a third is to be interviewed in the coming weeks."

Construction of the surgical expansion at Chinook Regional Hospital is scheduled to be complete in summer 2024.

It's expected to add one larger operating room and an additional room, plus five new surgical inpatient rooms.

Design for the renal dialysis area, which is expected to build a new unit at the hospital, will commence in the fall.