Matt Jones, minister of hospital and surgical health services, looks on during a press conference at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, on Dec. 10, 2025.--CP Photo Amber Bracken
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
Provincial health system leaders are calling the conditions in Alberta’s hospitals “extreme” and “extraordinary.” They say acute care facilities are facing “higher sustained demand than normal,’ and that this is “a very difficult time.”
One thing they won’t call it is a crisis.
According to Acute Care Alberta, the province’s 16 largest hospitals are contending with an occupancy rate of 102 per cent – a state of overwhelm even to the untrained eye, and well above the optimal operating capacity of 85 to 90 per cent.
But when asked at a press conference Thursday if hospitals are in a state of crisis, Minister of Hospital and Surgical Services Matt Jones demurred.
“Crisis” is the word used by two Edmonton emergency physicians in a Jan. 9 op-ed that has since gained the endorsement of the Alberta Medical Association and 300 individual emergency physicians across the province. “Emergency” and “disaster” are other terms that have been thrown around.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees also released a statement Thursday calling on the UCP government to declare a health-care emergency.
Jones however, says he already has access to the tools necessary to respond to current pressures. While he says further capacity for ministerial intervention is available if necessary, he was not clear on what threshold would need to be met in order for his ministry to obtain additional powers.
“That’s a very complicated hypothetical question,” said Jones.
While Jones says addressing capacity shortfalls is a long-term undertaking, he admits the health system is not where he wants it to be.
“I will fully acknowledge that we should have more acute-care capacity in the Edmonton area than we do today,” he said.
He pointed to a 50-year capital plan, announced in November, as a measure his government is taking to prevent future situations like the one currently faced in Edmonton.
“Ultimately, yes I am accountable. I believe there could have been greater capacity built in the years and decades, frankly, prior to today,” he said. “Wish we had more. The plans are in place. The construction has already started. The money is allocated, and we’re going to begin addressing the gap in capacity that I think does exist in Calgary and Edmonton.
He said the decision to escalate further would be informed by advice from service providers and other ministries and departments.
Respiratory virus hospitalizations have declined considerably since the late-December high, with 675 patients in hospital compared to the 995 at the end of last month.
Thursday’s press conference also included several announcements of measures the government is implementing in response to the current pressures.
Jones says dashboards reporting metrics and data from Alberta’s hospitals – including data regarding surgeries, emergency departments, EMS and primary care – will go live by early next week.
AHS’s interim Erin O’Neill also responded to a discussion on relocation of 21 family medicine beds from the University of Alberta hospital to Leduc Community Hospital, 20 km outside the city.
While the move has drawn criticism amid the system pressures experienced in Edmonton, O’Neill says it is necessary to facilitate a needed expansion of the University Hospital’s neurological ICU.
Jones also announced the launch of a new triage liaison physician role that will be added immediately at the busiest emergency departments in Calgary and Edmonton.
The triage liaison physician will work alongside triage nurses, who are currently responsible for assessing the acuity of patients waiting in emergency rooms and stratifying their care accordingly.
Dr. Aaron Low, Chief Medical Officer of Acute Care Alberta, says the role will allow patients to be assessed more thoroughly than is currently possible in the ER. The triage physician will have the authority to order diagnostic testing like blood tests and x-rays for patients still waiting for further care.
However, that position will be drawing on existing staff, asking physicians working in that department to take on an additional shift.
“We acknowledge that we’re going to need to recruit for this, so that will happen over time, because there will be more shifts to fill,” said Low.
The facilities that will be adding the triage physician role in the first phase of the initiative include the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the University of Alberta Hospital, Grey Nuns Community Hospital, Foothills Medical Centre and the Peter Lougheed Centre.
