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2mo ago

Alberta Orders Fatality Inquiry, Tests Triage-Doctor Pilot as ER Strain Persists

Officials say respiratory admissions are declining from a late-December peak.

Ambulances wait outside the emergency entrance at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton in January, 2012. Half the 42 family medicine beds at the hospital will be relocated to Leduc.
The entrance to the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital is pictured in, Calgary on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.
A treatment room in the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital is pictured in, Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Nurses in Alberta are set to vote later this month on a mediator's recommended settlement with their employers.
Treatment rooms in the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital are pictured in, Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.

Overview

  • Justice Minister Mickey Amery ordered a judge-led fatality inquiry at the request of Hospital Services Minister Matt Jones, an exceptional step taken before a Fatality Review Board recommendation.
  • Prashant Sreekumar, 44, died on Dec. 22 after reportedly waiting nearly eight hours for care at Edmonton’s Grey Nuns emergency department, with internal reviews and a medical examiner probe underway.
  • A triage liaison physician pilot will begin Feb. 1 at five busy ERs in Edmonton and Calgary, initially using existing AHS physicians to start assessments and testing from the waiting room.
  • Acute Care Alberta has dedicated 336 beds for the respiratory season and reports virus-related hospitalizations declined to 675 as of Jan. 14 from a Dec. 30 peak of 995.
  • AHS confirmed 21 of 42 family medicine beds will move from the University of Alberta Hospital to Leduc, a shift physicians warn could increase pressure on urban hospitals as some continue to call for a state of emergency.