The Alberta NDP is accusing the Government of Alberta for failing to uphold its promise to act after the death of local father Prashant Sreekumar in an Edmonton emergency department. Sreekumar died after waiting with chest pains for eight hours at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital on Dec. 22. An investigation into his death resulted in 16 recommendations from Acute Care Alberta, including a need to increase staffing and improve patient flow, as well as expand emergency rooms and improve triage. As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, three Edmonton area hospitals had estimated wait times exceeding seven hours. Additional wait time reporting on the Alberta Primary and Preventative Health Services was no longer available. “We know that it’s been seven months since the UCP responded to that report, and they said that they were going to act,” NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman, the party’s shadow minister for health, said at a press event earlier in the day. “The UCP government aren’t living up to their commitments, and our health-care system and patients are suffering as a result.” Hoffman pointed to the recent death of an Edmonton woman whose husband said they waited almost half-an-hour for an ambulance in July. “Minutes matter when it comes to your health and emergency care,” Hoffman said. “Nobody expects to have to wait over an hour when you’re in one of the two largest cities in the province, and the hospital is mere minutes away from where you are.” In January, the Alberta Medical Association sent a letter to the province detailing more deaths and dozens of “near misses” that month; in May, another man was reported to have died waiting for care at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The province announced new triage physician roles earlier this year, which were intended to begin at the end of January but were delayed. In a statement, Maddison McKee, press secretary to Adriana LaGrange, minister of hospitals and surgical services, said emergency room pressures are being felt across Canada due to population growth, rising demand and increasing patient complexity. “Alberta is investing a record $7.7 billion in physician compensation and development this year, alongside a 30-year acute care workforce plan to guide long-term recruitment, training and retention,” McKee said. She added that there are plans to add more than 1,000 new acute care beds to help reduce pressure on emergency departments, as well as spending $63 million over two years to develop unused spaces in existing facilities. Hoffman said the NDP are calling on the United Conservative Party to improve response times hospital capacity before the respiratory virus season begins. CTV News Edmonton has reached out to Acute Care Alberta and Alberta Health Services for more information and is awaiting a response.
