MLA Report: How Alberta’s Acute Care Action Plan strengthens rural health care

By Justin Wright on November 19, 2025.

Our government’s Acute Care Action Plan represents decisive action to strengthen Alberta’s health-care system. With 1,000 new hospital beds, 50,000 additional relief funding of $1.5 million, this comprehensive strategy addresses urgent pressures while building for the future. While headlines focus on new towers at Edmonton and Calgary hospitals, the real story for rural Alberta is how these investments create positive ripple effects throughout our entire health-care system.

A rising tide lifts all communities

When major urban hospitals operate at full capacity, the entire system struggles. Patients from rural areas requiring specialized care face longer waits for transfers and treatments. By adding over 1,000 acute care beds at the Grey Nuns, Misericordia and South Health Campus, we’re not just helping Edmonton and Calgary – we’re ensuring that when residents from Cypress-Medicine Hat need specialized urban care, beds are available.

The addition of 50,000 surgeries over the next three years directly benefits rural patients who often travel to larger centres for procedures. More surgical capacity means shorter wait times for everyone, regardless of postal code. This expansion includes partnerships with chartered surgical facilities, bringing more options closer to home for many rural residents.

Modernizing emergency response for all Albertans

The plan’s Emergency Health Services Modernization priority specifically addresses rural and remote challenges. When paramedics and ambulances can respond more efficiently to emergency events, every minute saved matters more in communities where the nearest hospital might be an hour away. Better co-ordination between ground and air ambulance services means critical care reaches rural patients faster.

Emergency Department Diversion initiatives help ensure people receive appropriate care in the right setting. This means developing alternatives to emergency visits – urgent care clinics, enhanced primary care and virtual consultations – options particularly valuable for rural residents who might otherwise face long drives for non-emergency issues.

Building health-care teams everywhere

The Workforce Resilience priority recognizes that attracting and retaining health-care professionals requires more than funding – it requires creating sustainable working conditions. When we reduce burnout in major centres by adding staff and improving flexibility, we create a larger pool of professionals willing to provide locum coverage or relocate to rural communities. Health-care workers operating at their full scope of practice means rural facilities can deliver more services locally.

Better flow benefits everyone

Improving acute care patient flow – moving patients efficiently through the system and back home or to appropriate community settings – has profound rural implications. When urban hospitals discharge patients more efficiently, rural patients aren’t stuck waiting for transfers. The addition of 12 new psychiatric beds and 30 permanent beds, combined with over 270 recovery beds already in service across 11 Recovery Communities, means more treatment options closer to home.

The forthcoming expansion of continuing care spaces will particularly benefit rural families. When appropriate care is available locally, families avoid the heartbreak of separation and communities retain the economic benefits of health-care employment.

Planning for tomorrow’s rural health care

The 50-year capital infrastructure strategy under Capital Readiness isn’t just about building hospitals – it’s about strategically planning health-care delivery for all Albertans. This long-term vision will balance community and acute care capital investments, ensuring rural health-care infrastructure evolves with our communities’ needs.

Stronger together

The Acute Care Action Plan proves that strengthening Alberta’s health-care system isn’t about choosing between urban and rural – it’s about recognizing we’re all part of one integrated system. When we reduce surgical wait times, modernize emergency services, improve patient flow and strengthen our workforce, every Albertan benefits.

For Cypress-Medicine Hat residents, this means faster access to surgeries, more efficient emergency transfers when needed, better co-ordination between local and specialized care and more healthcare options closer to home. These aren’t just urban investments – they’re investments in a provincial health-care system that serves all of us.

This Action Plan provides a clear, responsible path forward. It addresses today’s urgent pressures while building tomorrow’s stronger system. That’s good news for every Albertan, whether they live in downtown Calgary or rural Medicine Hat.

Justin Wright is MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat and Parliamentary Sec of Rural Health South