Alberta government officials have committed $25 million to upgrade 13 hospital helipads across the province, and Sundre's is not one of them.
The helipad at the Sundre hospital is not big enough to accommodate the new STARS helicopter that was introduced last year.
Until the helipad is upgraded, the new helicopter will land at the Sundre Airport and the hospital patient will be transferred there via ground ambulance. Or STARS will send one of its older models.
The Town of Sundre is advocating for speedy necessary changes.
“The town, we're not able to do what we would like to, which is fix up the helipad and get it done. But we will certainly advocate and contact Alberta Health Services (AHS) – see if there's a way that we can speed the process along, is there a way that we can help out,” said Sundre mayor Terry Leslie.
“I think there are examples of other communities where in fact the communities have really assisted in providing what's necessary to get the job done without having to impose on AHS and their budgets,” he said.
“It's not closed. It's still an open kind of a file. And we'll be seeing if we can find out more detail.”
Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne wrote a letter to Leslie with the news, which council received for information during the Feb. 18 council meeting.
The letter states that the money committed is for the 2013/2014 fiscal year and other helipads will be considered for future funding.
“Priority was based on numerous considerations. For instance, tertiary care hospitals, such as the Royal Alexandra Hospital, were given priority,” Horne said in the letter.
“In addition to the initial 13 helipad upgrades, some communities have notified AHS that they will cover the costs of their helipad upgrades, and these upgrades may happen concurrently with AHS' initial upgrades. An example is the Valleyview Health Centre helipad.”
An air ambulance landing site committee comprised of expert stakeholders created the priority list he said.
“Following the completion of upgrades to these 13 helipads, AHS will identify the next priorities for helipad upgrading and will provide Alberta Infrastructure with a list of sites to be considered for future funding.”
