Dear Members,
On Saturday, I issued a statement across all AMA social media platforms regarding the critical state of our acute care system, which has been operating at over 110% capacity for more than a year. While I am in active contact with the Ministers of Hospital and Surgical Health Services and Primary and Preventative Health Services, I am emphasizing that collaboration must lead to immediate action. With wait times for urgent patients in our major cities increasing by 70% since late 2022, we can no longer rely on "business as usual.”
Physician leaders have been sounding the alarm about the chaos in our emergency departments and the resulting risks to patient care. These concerns have garnered local, provincial and national attention, and I want to be clear: I strongly commend and support these physicians. You have an ethical and professional duty to advocate for your patients. When administrative channels for raising concerns fail, speaking out publicly is often the only tool remaining to protect those in your care.
In the statement, I also highlight the urgent need to restore system resilience. This requires reestablishing clear, provincial accountability for operational integration and patient flow — capabilities that have been significantly diminished. A disaggregated system cannot effectively manage volumes across regions or handle sustained spikes in demand. We are calling on the government to reestablish the structures and authority necessary to manage this crisis.
Regards,
Brian Wirzba, MD, FRCPC
President, Alberta Medical Association
The UCP has demolished our HC system. We must wrestle it back from Marlaina\/UCP. Now FOUR silos each one with a Minister; middle administration and support positions for each one? This is costing us way too much - the actual lives of AB’s! My husband is blind in one eye after waiting for “emergency” surgery for 4 days. Eye surgeons working until 11 PM at night! This incident was three months ago so things in our ED wards are only going to get worse!
Thank you!