Province launches health data dashboard, shows minor changes in surgery numbers

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on January 17, 2026.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

The province launched an online health dashboard Friday that allows Albertans to access data about surgical waits and other key health system metrics.

Over the last several months, the province’s four health ministries have come under fire for a lack of transparency and communication. In December, a report by the Auditor General highlighted gaps in health-care reporting, finding that AHS reporting failed to meet legal standards.

Premier Danielle Smith told the News in December the province was bringing back the online dashboards, and at a press conference Thursday, Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Matt Jones announced the imminent launch.

The province says the dashboard will be rolled out in phases, with the first phase consisting of surgical data. Subsequent phases will add primary care indicators and acute care metrics.

“Albertans deserve to know how their health-care system is performing. This dashboard puts patients first, clearly shows key results and holds the system accountable,” said Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange.

The data, released publicly Friday, shows Alberta’s surgical capacity to be roughly keeping pace with last year and ranking close to national averages on many key metrics.

The year-over-year number of surgeries completed has increased from 28,266 in October 2024 to 29,780 in October 2025.

The percent of surgeries done within the recommended time frame has remained stable during that period, falling marginally from 62 per cent in 2024 to 61 in 2025.

While wait times have increased slightly for cataract surgery, the number of surgeries for the top five cancer procedures improved from 915 to 981 or the month of October.

The per cent of cancer surgeries done within the recommended time has also remained stable, with 50 per cent of surgeries meeting the recommended threshold in October 2024 and 51 per cent meeting the same marker in October 2025.

Alberta’s numbers for cancer surgeries remain marginally behind the national average according to the most recent featured data.

Median wait times for colorectal and bladder cancer remain marginally behind the Canadian median, while wait times for prostate cancer surgery are 30 per cent longer.

Meanwhile, median wait times for hip and knee replacements rank slightly ahead of the rest of the country.

According to the dashboard, Medicine Hat Regional Hospital performed a total of 4,519 surgeries between April and October.

This represents an increase of 41 surgeries compared to the same period of time the previous year.

This included 1,057 cataract operations, 280 hip replacements, 326 knee replacements and 20 shoulder replacements. The remaining 2,836 surgeries were classified as “other.”

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