Red Deer area mayors blast latest delay of hospital construction

Come November, a government spokesperson reaffirmed construction would start sometime in 2021.

Fast forward to January 2022, and Kenney was announcing $1.8 billion for said expansion, but still, no sod turned.

Skip ahead to present-day, and ground remains unbroken. No tower is taller, no rooms have been added, there’s no cardiac catheterization, and stories of both burnt out health care workers and negative patient experiences continue to be exposed.

And now, the aforementioned ongoing hold up.

rdnewsNOW asked Alberta Infrastructure for an update on construction, the ministry stating that the project is undergoing what’s called ‘functional programming.’

The expectation is completion by 2022’s end, says Chloe Carr, the ministry’s press secretary.

“This is a critical step where we work closely with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to assess the current and future needs of patients. It’s important to listen to everyone who’ll eventually use the building, as they provide valuable feedback during planning. This stage includes making sure rooms will be the right size, and making sure everyone who works there, from medical professionals to IT staff, all have the space, equipment, and support they need to do their jobs right,” explains Carr.

“After this, we’ll begin the design stage, where we identify which medical programs will be needed the most in Red Deer and surrounding area. During this stage, we listen to the community and meet with experts, contractors, Alberta Health, and AHS to make sure the finished expansion best serves Albertans’ needs.”

Carr says based on this feedback, a construction schedule and detailed budget will be developed to make sure every dollar is spent wisely.

rdnewsNOW reached out to former Premier Kenney’s and new Premier Danielle Smith’s offices on this matter. Both declined comment, deferring to Alberta Infrastructure, who provided the following additional statement in lieu of one from Smith.

The ministry says the $100,000 announced in 2020 was included in the earmarked $1.8 billion.

“The reality is that this expansion, like every health care project, is not a typical construction project — it is highly complex, and in this case especially so because the hospital needs to stay open during planning and construction,” says Carr.

“Our $1.8 billion commitment to this project is critical to addressing the health care challenges experienced by people living in and around Red Deer, and our government has made this project a top priority from the beginning. Even though the pandemic had a major effect on every facet in every jurisdiction, we still continued to work with AHS and Alberta Health throughout 2020 and 2021 to identify the scope of needs and build a business case to begin work on this essential project.”

Mayors continue to be loud

“We’ve heard the idle promises. [This] is ludicrous.” -Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood

Nonetheless, the mayors of Red Deer and Red Deer County agree any further delay is completely unwarranted.

“I have a very strongly-worded letter on my desk ready to send to Alberta Infrastructure, but I don’t know yet who to send it to with upcoming changes to cabinet,” says Red Deer’s Mayor Ken Johnston.

“When I first read this statement and saw the words ‘functional programming,’ it put me in a state of shock, and asking ‘Where have the last three years gone since the announcement we had?’ I felt a deep sense of disappointment and bewilderment, which shifted a day later into anger. Where has the commitment gone? Was it lost in the inner workings of the province or AHS? With ‘functional programming,’ I have no idea what they’re talking about anymore because the days for that are long behind us. It’s an absolute shame they resort to words like that to a community like ours who fully expected and was promised the delivery of shovels in the ground by now. It’s ridiculous.”

Red Deer County’s Mayor Jim Wood says the region’s citizens deserve better.

“It’s very disappointing to hear them say three years later they’re still studying. We’ve heard the idle promises. Until I see a shovel in the ground, I’m actually very skeptical. Central Albertans have been treated like second-class citizens compared to the larger urban areas,” says Wood.

“I believe it’s well-known what’s needed to make a good hospital. To hear it’s important we do further consultation at this stage is ludicrous. We know it’ll take years to build, so I wonder what we do in the meantime with people ill every day, and sub-standard service occurring. I implore our government to get construction going right away.”

Red Deer MLAs Adriana LaGrange and Jason Stephan also expressed their thoughts to rdnewsNOW, Stephan admitting he is bothered.

“I have expressed my frustration with the minister’s office,” says Stephan. “In particular, I will be asking that the public be provided with a written, specific, critical path with progressive milestones and deadlines for when things will be completed. That is better than vague updates. I want more accountability and transparency.”

LaGrange says expansion is critical.

“It remains the highest priority project for myself, as well as the residents of Red Deer and central Alberta. However, a $1.8 billion expansion project has many moving parts, and we have to be sure we get it right. The functional programming phase is of paramount importance to ensure that the needs of current and future patients and staff are properly assessed and planned for,” she says.

“This process is almost complete and will move to the design phase shortly. In the meantime, I will continue to monitor the progress of this expansion very closely and advocate for it’s timely completion with Infrastructure Minister Nicholas Milliken. I have also recently spoken with Premier Smith and stressed the urgency of keeping this project on track. I am confident that this expansion will be completed in a timely manner.”

Anesthesiologists say changes aren’t working

Amid the disappointment and delays, two anesthesiologists, who stress that the burnout is very real, do have something nice to say about their place of work.

MORE: Sept. 29, 2022 — Doctors: Red Deer’s hospital, “on the brink of collapse”

“The environment in the operating rooms is so positive,” says Dr. Arun Anand, who signed a contract with AHS to work in Red Deer last March. “There’s such a good relationship between all team members. I’ve worked in a lot of different hospitals – I’m licensed in Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick — and the surgeons here are so competent; Alberta has some of the very best.”

“It’s really a wonderful environment here. The team, through all my years here, including outside the OR, gets along fabulously. It’s incredibly collegial, and what’s held this place together,” concurs Dr. Daniel Sysak, 61, and a 24-year anesthesiologist at Red Deer Regional. “However, it’s gotten to the point where it isn’t sustainable. “We’re averaging 30 to 40 patients every day, and it burns people out. Red Deer is an unattractive and overwhelming place to work, so anesthesiologists have been leaving.”

“People have said it’s not sustainable, and that they can’t keep living with this kind of a workload.” – Dr. Daniel Sysak

Anand, who took a pay cut to work in Red Deer, says since starting part time here in 2021, he’s learned the positivity can quickly deteriorate once things get crazy.

“No band-aid is going to fix things. This hospital does the work of two or three and it shows in our emergency surgery list, which has peaked between 40 and 60 people. I’ve never heard of that anywhere,” says Anand, explaining that the hospital he worked at in New Brunswick would cancel daytime non-emergency operations once the list got to 10.

“What’s really impressive is we earn recognition from the American College of Surgeons’ surgical quality program (NSQIP) as one of the top 50 hospitals. We do great work, but aren’t rewarded with additional resources. We’re on the same level as St. Michael’s in Toronto, the Mayo Clinic and Duke, being on that list, but we certainly don’t have the same budget.”

Anand, 34, says changes AHS recently made to the OR schedule, and boasted about in a recent statement actually made things worse. The changes, he opines, moved more emergency surgeries to the overnight slot, opposite practice of what he says is typical.

“Where I’ve worked, as far as on-call anesthesia, after midnight, you reserve that for life, limb or sight, so true emergencies. Plus, because it’s getting so much harder and incentives don’t line up, I’m going to Winnipeg, and flying to Ottawa to work in my spare time. It’s not as taxing on my health. It’s quite a burden here whereby if I know I’ll be up all night anyways and I make more money in Ontario, I’m probably going to do that. And sometimes I’m not even up all night there.”

Sysak says doing periphery surgeries in places like Olds and Stettler has been successful in reducing the waitlist, but by not investing in the hospital, it’s difficult to truly get ahead.

“We have emergency case lists much longer than hospitals in Calgary and Edmonton. AHS has tried scheduling variations, but it doesn’t change the number of people who need surgery,” Sysak laments. “People have said it’s not sustainable, and that they can’t keep living with this kind of a workload. The department has never begrudged them for that either.

Sent to the rdnewsNOW inbox: An image shows an emergency room wait of 17 hours, 49 minutes, just a few days after our story about a near 15-hour wait in the ER. (Contributed)

AHS sheds more light on situation

AHS was asked about the anesthesiologists’ claims that their scheduling tweaks caused more issues.

“We heard some concerns last week that changes made to the OR schedule have not had the intended impact of improving work-life balance. We are reviewing these concerns,” the health authority says.

“There has been an increase in emergency cases occurring overnight, particularly last month where 46 emergent cases needed to be complete overnight. By comparison, there were a total of 352 cases on the emergency add list for the month of September, with 149 completed during the day and 157 in the evenings.”

In September, AHS adds, there were 931 total surgical cases, an average of 31 daily.

AHS also notes there are eight anesthesiologists in various stages of assessment and credentialing, with at least two more to be posted soon.

AHS is also recruiting more clinical assistants to be part of the anesthesia team, and are looking at new physicians with anesthesia abilities. Two clinical assistants have already been hired, with two more being onboarded in the new year.

“We recognize this is a change and not something the department has done before; however, we must explore all options in order to resolve the challenges being experienced,” AHS states.

“Leadership is also actively advocating for RDRHC to become a part of the five-year residency training programs for both Calgary and Edmonton by supporting a rotation here in Red Deer and is developing a proposal to allow for RDRHC to be part of a competency-based residency training program for GPAs to enhance their skills.”

AHS says the proposal’s goal is to bring stability, improve morale and increase patient access.

Feb. 2, 2022: Morale very low among Red Deer Regional Hospital staff as emergency surgeries diverted

Sept. 13, 2021: Overcapacity concerns at Red Deer Regional Hospital reaching new heights

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)/rdnewsNOW

Red Deer area mayors blast latest delay of hospital construction

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