Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says help is on the way to deal with the pressure on the province’s two children’s hospitals as they deal with an increase in respiratory illnesses.
An increase in patients at Alberta’s Children’s Hospital has prompted Alberta Health Services to redeploy staff to the hospital from a facility that provides respite care for chronically and terminally ill children.
Health officials said the Calgary hospital and the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton have been operating at or above 100 percent of their normal capacity for the past month.
Alberta Health Services also set up a heated trailer outside the emergency department at Alberta Children’s Hospital last month to help with pressure and weather conditions.
Copping says there are some signs that the respiratory viruses may be peaking, and the government is working to build capacity in the system.
He says there is no immediate plan to replicate what is happening in Ontario by delaying pediatric surgeries or bringing in outside agencies to help.
