Edmonton emergency departments struggle to keep up with increased patient numbers

Mrinali Anchan · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Alberta Health Services has been utilizing wide casualty stretchers to help capableness issues as Edmonton paramedics face increased workloads, according to an interior email obtained by CBC News.

EMS volumes are "relatively consistent," but the quality to determination patients done the strategy has created "higher-than-normal" request connected front-line paramedics, said an email from Jeremy Olfert, an Edmonton Zone EMS operations subordinate executive.

AHS sent stretchers to the "five large sites" successful the Edmonton wellness zone, to assistance paramedics instrumentality to work and assemblage coverage, Olfert said.

"The deployment of these stretchers volition assistance code the debased availability we person seen crossed the sites," Olfert said. 

 "It is besides important to enactment that portion these stretchers whitethorn beryllium stored successful the ambulance bays astatine immoderate facilities, diligent attraction volition hap wrong the infirmary site."

AHS continues to instrumentality steps to temporarily turn infirmary capacity, such arsenic creating overcapacity spaces and discharging patients much quickly, an bureau spokesperson told CBC.

"Additional stretchers were enactment successful spot successful Edmonton hospitals arsenic a precautionary measurement connected Feb. 26 but, to date, they person not been needed to negociate diligent volumes," the spokesperson said, noting that patient volumes astatine Edmonton exigency departments stay supra average. 

Watch | How Alberta Health Services is dealing with Edmonton exigency country capacity:

The University of Alberta Hospital, for example, reorganized attraction and work transportation successful 1 of its outpatient units, which allowed for much beds, the spokesperson said.

This tactic, which is "not uncommonly used during periods of precocious diligent volumes," led to the opening of 9 caller beds astatine the extremity of February. They are staffed by exigency section workers, the spokesperson said.

Estimated exigency section hold times successful Edmonton scope anyplace from three hours to much than seven hours, according to the AHS website.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange and Infrastructure Minister Martin Long are expected to denote plans Thursday to increase funding for acute attraction capacity.

'Limited furniture base'

Finding furniture spaces has proven to beryllium challenging, said Dr. Darren Markland, an intensive attraction physician and a nephrologist at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital. 

"We person a constricted furniture base, which we're ever juggling," Markland said.

The juggling enactment occurs successful portion because the infirmary fills up successful different places — most often the exigency department, helium said, adding that galore of the patients taking space "don't request to beryllium there."

"All of a sudden, our furniture managers person to virtually commencement shuffling patients," helium said.

Ultimately, issues successful Alberta wellness attraction are systematic, Markland said, adding that resources are being redirected from public wellness attraction to private.

He says backstage surgical facilities gully resources from acute attraction and assistance non-emergent patients, portion "strangling superior care, which is expected to forestall radical from getting sick successful the archetypal place."

Combined, those factors adhd up to leaving radical with nary different spot to spell than the hospital, helium said.