Alberta’s government is committed to expanding, modernizing and enhancing health infrastructure while ensuring that every dollar spent on health care delivers the best value for Albertans. While planning for new facilities continues across the province, Alberta’s government recognizes there is a need to invest in existing facilities to help alleviate pressures, especially in the province’s largest centres.
To expand acute care capacity and ensure the needs of Albertans living in the Edmonton area are met, Budget 2025 would provide $2 million in planning funds to develop inpatient towers at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia community hospitals, with each of the towers including up to 350 new beds.
“We are continuing to explore options to ensure we are meeting the needs of Albertans living in Edmonton and its surrounding area. Adding up to 700 new inpatient beds at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia community hospitals will improve access to care and health outcomes for Albertans.”
“Our team at Infrastructure is proud to lead the planning activities for these new inpatient towers at the Misericordia and Grey Nuns community hospitals. Increasing the number of inpatient beds is a cost-effective strategy to improve services and boost capacity for Edmonton residents. I look forward to all of the work ahead building and modernizing health and mental health care facilities for Alberta’s growing population.”
Alberta’s government is taking an integrated approach to health system planning, which includes making decisions about capital projects to respond to local needs and priorities. Last year, the province introduced seven new regional health corridors that reflect where and how Albertans are accessing health care.
The new regional health corridors were developed using data from overall travel patterns of Albertans using health services and facilities, as well as feedback received during health care refocusing public engagement sessions. The corridors are being used to ensure Alberta’s government is taking an evidence-based approach to inform provincial-level decisions about services, workforce and infrastructure across the new provincial health agencies.
“Every Albertan should be able to access the acute care services they need close to home. We recognize there is a need to invest in plans for our existing facilities and new facilities to alleviate pressures on the health care system and support health care workers.”
Currently, the Edmonton corridor has the highest number of out-of-corridor and out-of-province patients accessing acute care inpatient services compared with the other corridors. Looking forward, the Edmonton corridor’s population is expected to grow to 2.4 million by 2038, which will account for 40 per cent of Alberta’s total population. With the Edmonton corridor’s population growing rapidly, there is a higher demand for acute care services and a greater need for capital facilities to accommodate the area’s growing and aging population.
“Budget 2025 enables us to move forward in achieving the refocusing of the health care system. We are grateful to be able to develop a plan where we can expand on much-needed acute care bed capacity in the most cost-effective and timely way possible.”
If passed, Budget 2025 would include a total of $180 million over three years for health capital projects in the Edmonton corridor, including $11 million to advance plans for a stand-alone Stollery Children’s Hospital. On top of these investments, Alberta’s government is developing shelled and vacant spaces to increase capacity within existing health facilities across the province, including the Mazankowski Heart Institute and Kaye Clinic in Edmonton.
Alberta’s government will continue to make smart, strategic investments in health facilities and equipment to support the delivery of publicly funded health programs and services.
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.
Quick facts
- If passed, Budget 2025 would include $3.8 billion over three years to support health capital projects and programs across the province.
- In 2022-23, 162,391 patients accessed acute care inpatient services in the Edmonton corridor. Of those, almost 12,800 were out-of-corridor and out-of-province patients.
- The Misericordia Community Hospital currently operates 310 inpatient beds and the Grey Nuns Community Hospital currently operates 362 inpatient beds.