Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced the 19 new ICU beds have been opened across the province. (Photo: Government of Alberta - YourAlberta on YouTube)

By Justin Goulet

Two in Lethbridge

Nineteen new ICU beds opened across Alberta

May 13, 2022 | 11:27 AM

CALGARY, AB – The Government of Alberta continues to address the need for intensive care unit (ICU) beds across the province’s healthcare system.

In March 2022, Health Minister Jason Copping announced that 50 new ICU beds would be added across various facilities in Alberta.

READ MORE: Alberta to add 50 new ICU beds in the coming months

On Friday, May 13, 2022, Premier Jason Kenney stated that 19 of those beds have been opened and fully staffed since the announcement earlier this year.

Kenney said, “these beds are staffed with new registered nurses, healthcare aids, unit clerks, respiratory therapists, and other allied health professionals who will keep those beds open when needed.”

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“When demand and pressure slows down, there’s flexibility to redeploy staff to other areas where needs for care and treatment are higher,” stated the Premier.

Health Minister Jason Copping said the 19 ICU beds have been opened across facilities in Edmonton, Calgary, St. Albert, Grande Prairie and in Lethbridge.

• five are in the Foothills Medical Centre (Calgary)
• two are in Rockyview General Hospital (Calgary)
• two are in South Health Campus (Calgary)
• three are in the University of Alberta Hospital (Edmonton)
• two are in the Royal Alexandra Hospital (Edmonton)
• one is in the Sturgeon Community Hospital (St. Albert)
• two are in the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital
• two are in the Chinook Regional Hospital (Lethbridge)

He noted that Alberta Health Services (AHS) has plans to open the 31 remaining ICU beds by September. More details are expected to come at a later date.

With the opening of the new beds, Alberta now has 192 adult general ICU beds across the entire province, up from 173 before the pandemic. With $300 million over the next three years, AHS will boost its ICU capacity to 223 beds across all AHS zones.

Copping said, “these first 19 beds are already the biggest increase since AHS was created and the full 50 beds will be the biggest increase in decades.”

The Minister said adding these new beds means more staffing opportunities for healthcare professionals. He remarked, “every one of these new beds means 10 to 15 new positions, 250 staff for all of these 19 beds.”

Premier Kenney added that in addition to the 19 ICU beds set up across the province, 11 new operating rooms (ORs) are being added at Calgary’s Foothills Hospital, on top of the existing 32 ORs.

Friday’s press conference can be viewed below.

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