Alberta commits $3.5 billion to healthcare in 2022 budget

Feb 25, 2022 | 4:24 PM

EDMONTON, AB – The Alberta 2022 budget is committing $3.5 billion over the next three years for health facilities, equipment, and IT systems to expand healthcare capacity across the province.

$133 million is going towards the Alberta Surgical Initiative Capital Program to increase surgical capacity across the province, including projects to expand or add new operating rooms in hospitals in Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat.

Specifics on the local operating room expansions were not provided.

Minister of Health, Jason Copping says, “These health projects are moving forward to ensure people in urban and rural communities across Alberta have access to the best, most modern services our health system can offer.”

Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre is receiving $193 million over the next three years towards a $1.8 billion investment to increase critical services and add capacity.

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Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary is receiving $63.5 million to add 11 new operating rooms and 17 recovery beds.

Currently, surgical teams at the Foothills hospital perform more than 21,500 surgeries each year in its 32 operating rooms, which are running at full capacity.

Adding 11 new operating rooms will provide up to 7,000 more surgeries each year, including cancer, spine, and cardiac surgeries.

Copping says the new operating rooms will help eliminate the surgical backlog the COVID-19 pandemic has caused.

The University of Alberta Hospital Brain Centre received $50-million to begin construction of a neurosciences intensive care unit, increasing capacity from 11 spaces to 24.

by Jerran Fisher