Funding plans call for a new tower that can accommodate up to 350 hospital beds in the Grey Nun and Misericordia Hospital
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The Alberta government said the $2 million it specifically used to plan in last month’s provincial budget could result in hundreds of new beds at two Edmonton hospitals, although the schedule and expenses for the final project have not been provided yet.
Funding plans call for the construction of a new tower that can accommodate 350 hospital beds at both the Grey Nun and Misericordia Hospital.
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Health Minister Adriana Lagrange and Infrastructure Minister Martin Long talked about the plan Thursday, saying the beds need to reduce the time the city’s population is growing.
“We’ve been working on a decade to look at how to expand the capacity of both hospitals,” Lang said.
“We think we can do this faster than any other way.”
Lond added that $2 million will “make a plan for us” and the timeline and cost can be determined afterwards.
The province faces criticism in its 2024 budget, which essentially shelved plans for a new South Edmonton hospital, which will be the first in nearly four decades since the city, the first since 1988.
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During that time, the city’s population almost doubled.
The province said the Edmonton Health Corridor’s population is significantly larger than the city itself, and is expected to grow to 2.4 million by 2038, accounting for 40% of Alberta’s population.
It also noted that the Edmonton Corridor had the largest number of patients outside of acceptance and disease.
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Lagne said Thursday that the potential towers were “much faster and much cheaper” than the initial plan to build a new hospital.
“The proposed cost figure for South Edmonton hospital is $4.9 billion, with only about 400 beds allocated.”
She defended the proposed tower, which was necessary and part of a larger provincial health care program.
“You can’t just say, well, this is the money to start building,” she said. “We have to have a strategic plan for the entire province.”
mblack@postmedia.com
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