INNISFAIL – Mayor Jean Barclay will soon have a meeting with her City of Red Deer counterpart over construction delays with the planned $1.8 billion expansion at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, a facility regularly relied upon by scores of Innisfailians.
On Oct. 6, Barclay told the Albertan she has a meeting scheduled with Red Deer mayor Ken Johnston to come up with a plan to have the project move forward.
“It continues to be delayed. We know that it impacts our community here in Innisfail. We've all seen the impacts of canceled surgeries. We see the wait list and emergency closing 18 hours at times,” said Barclay, adding the Red Deer hospital’s capacity problem has become so serious Red Deer citizens are coming to Innisfail to access emergency service. “The solution isn't only a new hospital solution. It is something that needs to happen now to relieve some of the pressure we're seeing.”
Last week Johnson angrily told Red Deer media he was “deeply disappointed” with a new provincial government update announcement that there would be a medical program needs assessment for patients and staff before construction could begin.
Barclay said she fully supported Johnson’s concern over the delays and looks forward to a planned meeting later this month.
“We're going to discuss it and I think that discussion will hopefully morph into a kind of regional approach,” said Barclay. “We're not the only community that's impacted by this. It has to be every community in Central Alberta, and it’s time we got some answers.”
Phase 1 of the hospital expansion was originally expected to start last year, with the province announcing later in February of 2022 there would be an $1.8-billion investment into the overall project that included a 2030 completion date.
Since then, however, the Red Deer hospital has been plagued with complaints of long waiting times, and the reality that the timetable to see actual construction start will take longer than hoped.
“We keep hearing promises, promises but nothing on the delivery end of things,” said Barclay.
