Alberta to Invest $618M to Address Surgical Backlog

Alberta has earmarked $618 million in its 2024 budget to address the province’s surgical backlog. A total of $313 million has been designated for the Alberta Surgical Initiative Capital Program (ASI) over three years to boost the number of surgeries performed by opening new operating rooms across the province, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said at a March 26 news conference. The money will also be used to expand existing operating rooms and purchase new equipment. An additional $305 million has been set aside, aiming to enable Alberta Health Services to perform 310,000 surgeries this year, a nearly six percent increase over 2022-2023. “We should not be seeing discrepancies in health-care delivery or in the quality of care across the province and every Albertan should be able to access surgical care within clinically recommended timelines,” Ms. LaGrange told reporters. ...