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7h ago

Alberta Opposition Seeks Emergency Declaration After Leaked ER Deaths List

Officials favor a judge-led review over an emergency declaration.

Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services Matt Jones shared an update on the status of the emergency department expansion at the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.
An ambulance waits outside the University of Alberta Hospital emergency area, Edmonton, Jan. 24, 2022.
The Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025.
Well-known emergency medicine physician Paul Parks, who collated a list of needless deaths and near misses in Alberta Emergency Rooms that has reignited the furor about the ongoing crisis in the province’s health care system.

Overview

  • Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi urged Premier Danielle Smith to recall the legislature early and declare a state of emergency, citing major hospitals running at roughly 102% capacity.
  • An anonymized list compiled by ER physician Dr. Paul Parks documents six recent deaths while waiting for care and nearly 30 critical near misses, and it was widely circulated after being posted on TheBreakdownAB.
  • The province has ordered a judge-led public fatality inquiry into the December death of Prashant Sreekumar, whose case helped fuel new scrutiny of emergency department crowding.
  • Hospitals Minister Matt Jones rejected declaring an emergency, saying existing tools are sufficient, noting ERs see about two million visits a year with a 0.07% mortality rate while calling the flagged cases concerning but not representative.
  • Medical leaders, including AMA President Dr. Brian Wirzba, called for a single authority to direct bed management, patient flow, surge activation and transfers following system restructuring under Acute Care Alberta.