Additional beds for MH Regional Hospital / File image

By David Opinko

HEALTH CARE

Medicine Hat will get eight new ICU beds through Alberta budget, officials say

Apr 4, 2025 | 5:07 AM

Medicine Hat Regional Hospital’s intensive care unit will expand by eight beds through the $5 million set aside in the 2025 Alberta budget for health care in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.

A needs assessment for cardiac services in the region recommended the construction of new intensive care beds at Medicine Hat hospital and Chinook Regional Hospital.

In a news release, they clarified that some of that money will go towards “detailed planning to prepare the cardiac catheterization lab for construction in a future budget.”

“Every heartbeat matters in saving lives,” MLA Lethbridge-East Nathan Neudorf said.

“I’m so grateful the Lethbridge cardiac catheterization lab project is being accelerated to ensure patients can get the care they need, faster and closer to home,”

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Once planning work is completed, it is anticipated to add the eight Medicine Hat beds and the 34 ICU beds in Lethbridge.

They will have the ability to be ICU or lower-acuity beds, depending on the hospital’s needs at any given time, the government said.

A private fundraising initiative is ongoing for the Southern Alberta Cardiac Centre of Excellence in Lethbridge. One family donated $500,000 to the facility, while the 30th Annual Care from the Heart Day Radio-A-Thon raised $473,804.

Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen says he is grateful to see such strong levels of support for improving local healthcare.

“Increasing the scope of cardiac services in our city has been a top advocacy priority for several years,” Hyggen said.

“On behalf of Lethbridge city council, I want to thank everyone involved in making this a reality.”

The province estimates that the cardiac catheterization lab in Lethbridge will help an estimated 1,500 to 1,700 patients every year once it is operational.

Other health-related announcements in the Alberta budget include a new urgent care centre, $39 million over three years for the University of Lethbridge Rural Medical Teaching School, and $22 million over three years for renal dialysis at Chinook Regional Hospital.