EDMONTON – Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley committed that an NDP government would build the South Edmonton hospital, work to undo the UCP delays to the project and address the chaos in Alberta’s healthcare created by Danielle Smith’s incompetent mismanagement.
Documents obtained by the Alberta NDP show that the UCP is considering extending the completion date of the South Edmonton Hospital indefinitely, potentially reducing the number of beds and considering the potential elimination of major services.
“This project is critical to add capacity and end the chaos in Alberta healthcare,” Notley said. “I am committing that a future Alberta NDP Government will make the completion of this hospital a priority and we will build it to the size and provide the healthcare services needed to meet the needs of residents in Edmonton and surrounding regions.”
“We must do better to make sure that all Albertans can get the health care they need, when they need it, close to home.
Notley committed that an Alberta NDP Government would do the following:
Press forward urgently with the construction of the South Edmonton hospital, and explore any opportunity to speed up the project completion timeline.
We will build the new south Edmonton hospital to reflect the needs of the communities it will serve. We will not jeopardize your healthcare just to cut costs.
Ensure the hospital is fully staffed as a part of the planned largest healthcare recruitment campaign in Alberta history.
In 2017, the Alberta NDP Government announced approval of the South Edmonton Hospital, which would be the first new hospital to be built with up to 500 patient beds. Construction was to start in 2020 to be completed by 2026/27.
Since then, the UCP delayed the start date to 2023 and now the hospital is delayed indefinitely with the government removing the start and end dates entirely from their public webpages.
South Edmonton has seen some of the fastest population growth in the country. The Edmonton zone is at least short 418 beds and projected to be short 1,490 beds by 2026/27.
An Alberta Health consultant suggested reducing the bed count for the Edmonton south hospital to 310 beds. If they go through with that plan, this will only mean more delays in accessing care and more hallway medicine like we’ve seen over the last few years.
“Countless hours have gone into getting the Edmonton South Hospital built, and yet there is no clear future for the hospital under the UCP government”, said Rod Loyola, Alberta NDP Infrastructure Critic. “While the UCP continues to fail the families in the Edmonton region and ignores their healthcare needs, our leader, our candidates and our party are ready to stand up for them. We cannot afford to keep delaying this critically needed hospital.”
Despite the years of work that went into planning and construction of the South Edmonton Hospital, on two separate locations UCP Infrastructure Minister Nathan Neudorf was unable to give the date that the hospital would be completed or even commit to the date that construction would start.
“The empty field in the heart of my riding clearly shows the failures of Danielle Smith and the UCP Government,” said Rhiannon Hoyle, Alberta NDP Candidate for Edmonton-South. “The chaos in healthcare is the biggest issue I hear from Edmonton-South constituents. People can’t find a family doctor, they are worried that an ambulance will not come when they need one and so many are waiting months and months for needed surgeries.
“Alberta’s NDP will end the chaos in Alberta healthcare. We will ensure public healthcare is there for every person when and where they need it.”
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