As the Alberta government promises to address pressures on hospitals and improve surgical wait times, while also grappling with a deficit budget, there are questions about where it is choosing to spend its money.
The provincial budget, tabled late last month, includes $34.4 billion in total health-care spending.
“We know that too many Albertans are waiting longer than clinically recommended for surgeries and other essential health care,” said Matt Jones, the minister of hospital and surgical health services.
“At the same time, population growth and aging demographics are increasing pressure on our acute-care system.”
Jones highlighted details of the government’s spending plans for acute care at a news conference in Calgary on Tuesday.
If passed, the 2026 provincial budget will include $13.8 billion for operating and expanding hospital and surgical systems, which represents an increase of about $1.7 billion over last year, according to Jones.
That funding will support staffing, surgeries, emergency services, diagnostics and hospital upgrades.
The Alberta government has come under increasing pressure to address crowded hospitals, overwhelmed ERs and ballooning surgical waits.
This year’s budget dedicates $4.9 billion to health infrastructure, which represents a $1.3 billion increase over last year, budget documents state.
The capital funding plan for the Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services (one of four health-related ministries in the province) rings in at $1.4 billion over three years.
“It supports major hospital maintenance and upgrades in both urban and rural areas of the province and includes significant investments in diagnostic imaging, medical device reprocessing, and the purchasing and upgrading of the Emergency Health Services fleet,” the province said in a news release.
The funding includes $315 million for rural and remote hospitals and $63 million (including $50 million in new funding) over two years to plan and develop unfinished and vacant hospital spaces, according to the government.
No construction money for hospital towers
While the Alberta government has repeatedly promised more hospital beds, the budget reveals a key commitment, outlined in November, is years away from coming to fruition.
As part of its acute care action plan, the province said three new inpatient towers in Edmonton and Calgary would add more than 1,000 beds between the two cities.
The towers are planned for the Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals in Edmonton and the South Health Campus in Calgary.
If passed, the budget will allocate $7.22 million over two years for in-patient tower planning at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals in Edmonton.
But no money is earmarked for construction over the next three years. And there is no mention of the South Health Campus project in the capital plan.
“Where is the funding. What is the timeline? What’s the plan to staff them once they’re open? When is any of that happening?” said Chris Gallway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
“It’s easy to promise a thousand beds. What’s the plan to actually deliver on them?”
CBC News asked the ministry for further information about the tower construction, including timelines.
“These towers will add up to 350 beds at each hospital, increasing inpatient capacity, and supporting timely access to acute care,” press secretary Kyle Warner in an email in reference to the two Edmonton projects.
Planning money, according to Warner, is used to define the scope of the project, refine design requirements and develop cost estimates.
“Construction funding is typically considered in future budgets once projects reach an advanced stage of planning. Opening timelines will depend on the completion of design, final project scope, and required construction approvals,” he said.
According to Warner, planning continues for the South Health Campus project.
“Construction timelines will be confirmed once planning advances and funding approvals occur,” he said.
Dr. Braden Manns, a professor of medicine and health economics at the University of Calgary, said this means the promised towers, and the much-needed beds they’ll add, won’t be completed for years.
“We’re not talking two years away. We’re talking many years away. And Edmonton simply cannot wait that long to get more hospital beds,” he said.
The budget, according to Manns, does not align with the messaging from government.
“I’m not surprised but I guess it reflects on the level of commitment from the government,” he said.
“We need to see some concrete investments and we’re not seeing that.”
Manns said much of the ER gridlock Alberta has been experiencing is caused by a backlog of admitted patients who can’t be moved out of the department because there aren’t enough beds on the wards.
Often hospitals have a significant number of beds filled with patients waiting for space in a care home.
The budget also includes $923 million for the continuing care capital program, “to expand continuing care capacity across the province,” which falls under the Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services.
The biggest health infrastructure project is the ongoing redevelopment of the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, which is in line for more than $1 billion over three years
There is also $59 million budgeted over three years to bring a long awaited cardiac catheterization lab to Lethbridge and improve ICU capacity in the south zone.
Another $5 million is earmarked for redevelopment planning at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and $38 million for the Stollery Children’s Hospital planning.
The budget also includes $330 million over three years for surgical device reprocessing upgrades, among other projects.
Money for more surgeries
The Alberta government has also been facing calls to address surgical wait times.
The government is committing $525 million over three years to follow through on a promise it made in November to increase the number of surgeries by 50,000, using chartered surgical facilities.
According to the province, 318,920 surgeries were performed in 2024-25 and 330,000 are expected for 2025-26.
“This increase in surgeries will not only help address long waitlists for common procedures but will also help increase the number of patients who are seen and treated within clinical guidelines,” said David Diamond, interim CEO of Acute Care Alberta.
Gallaway, with Friends of Medicare, questions where that funding will go.
“Our assumption is that it will be mostly to private surgical centres, ” he said.
“Is that the best approach to getting more surgeries done and will they actually meet their targets?”
The province also intends to move ahead with a 30-year acute care workforce plan which will include a workforce forecast, action plan and framework for implementation, according to Jones.
The government will do this work in partnership with Acute Care Alberta and will consult with regulatory colleges, post-secondary institutions and organizations such as the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), he said.
