Alberta Healthcare Wait Times Reach Crisis Levels as ER Overcrowding Persists

Emergency department wait times across Alberta have reached crisis levels, with patients in Calgary and Edmonton routinely waiting 12 to 18 hours for care as the healthcare system struggles with chronic staffing shortages and surging demand.

On the Front Lines

At Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre, the province’s busiest emergency department, physicians say overcrowding has become the norm rather than the exception. Hallway medicine — where patients are treated on stretchers in corridors — is now a daily occurrence.

“I’ve been practising emergency medicine for 20 years, and I have never seen it this bad,” said Dr. Paul Parks, an emergency physician and past president of the Alberta Medical Association’s Section of Emergency Medicine. “We are failing our patients.”

Root Causes

Health experts point to a confluence of factors: pandemic burnout has driven hundreds of nurses and physicians out of the profession, population growth has increased demand, and a lack of primary care access means patients who can’t find a family doctor are turning to emergency rooms for routine care.

Alberta currently has approximately 800 fewer nurses than it needs, according to the United Nurses of Alberta. Recruitment efforts have been hampered by competition from other provinces and uncompetitive compensation packages.

“You can’t run a healthcare system on the goodwill of exhausted workers,” said UNA president Heather Smith. “The government needs to invest in people, not just infrastructure.”

Government Response

Health Minister Jason Copping said the province is investing $64 million in emergency department improvements and has launched an international recruitment campaign for healthcare workers. Critics say the measures are insufficient given the scale of the crisis.

The Alberta NDP has called for an emergency debate in the legislature, which the government has so far declined.