Overview
- Hundreds of emergency and internal medicine physicians, led publicly by Paul Parks of the Alberta Medical Association, called for a provincial state of emergency, citing daily disaster conditions and patient harm.
- Covenant Health confirmed three deaths in the Grey Nuns ER on Dec. 22, including 44-year-old Prashant Sreekumar after an eight-hour wait; the province is investigating his death.
- Capacity data this week showed Edmonton hospitals far beyond safe limits, with patients waiting up to about 72 hours in offload areas and admitted counts matching or exceeding official bed numbers at major sites.
- The Alberta government rejected an emergency declaration as misguided, pointing to measures such as 336 dedicated respiratory-season beds, designated surge spaces, faster discharges and transfers, and limits on non-essential inbound transfers.
- Doctors cite an early severe flu spike, rapid population growth, ALC bed blockages and recent health-system restructuring into four agencies as drivers of the crisis, with patients reporting multi-hour waits and hallway care.