Change at Chinook Regional Hospital to allow for more complex surgeries

Mar 4, 2020 | 12:16 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Government of Alberta has announced $100-million in funding to upgrade hospitals.

The bulk of the funding will go towards hospitals in Calgary and Edmonton, but some of the money will go to facilities in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, and Rocky Mountain House.

“Albertans deserve a world-class health system that delivers the right care, in the right setting, at the right time,” says Premier Jason Kenney. “This funding from Budget 2020 will drive down wait times with necessary and overdue upgrades to hospital operating rooms and equipment across the province. Ultimately, we will make sure our health-care system has the capacity and the staff to deliver the best access to surgery in Canada.”

In Lethbridge, two smaller operating rooms at Chinook Regional Hospital will be combined into one larger space.

According to the province, this will allow for a greater number of complex surgeries to be done locally.

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The $100-million investment will reportedly help Alberta Health Services to add over 17,000 surgeries this fiscal year.

“Once the renovations are complete and less complex surgeries are being performed in chartered surgical facilities, up to 30,000 additional surgeries will be available to Albertans by 2023,” reads a media release from the provincial government.

The government has set a goal of increasing the number of publicly-funded surgeries in Alberta by 80,000 over three years.

The province claims that, since 2013-14, there has been a 7.5 per cent increase in scheduled surgeries.

by David Opinko