Red Deer hospital one step closer to opening new cardiac centre

After decades of advocacy and an Alberta government pledge last fall, a plan to build a temporary cardiac centre at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre is now in motion. 

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said the $22-million facility will be built inside a space that's currently being used as a physician's lounge, years before a permanent lab will be ready for use as part of the hospital's ongoing expansion.

The hospital's overhaul is expected to be finished by 2031, and will include two state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization labs, but LaGrange said more cardiac services were needed sooner to bridge the gap. 

"We know that Albertans living in the central Alberta health corridor should not have to travel to Calgary or Edmonton to receive potentially life-saving cardiac care," said LaGrange. 

"Having these services available in Red Deer will reduce wait time, eliminate the need for travel and help patients get the care they need sooner."

The Alberta government originally announced their intent to build the new lab in November.

A private donation of $10 million by the John Donald family to the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation — which will cover the capital costs of the project — has now made that dream a reality, said Dr. Kym Jim, a physician at the hospital and longtime advocate for the lab. 

"It is something that's been long overdue," said Jim. 

He said getting the lab off the ground has been nearly two decades in the making, and has required an enormous community effort. 

"It means as a physician that we no longer have to load people in an ambulance and wonder if they're going to make it to the other end," said Jim. "The unfortunate reality is some people did not make it to the other end of that journey. And we know now that we are going to have the tools here so that that doesn't happen again." 

Cardiac catheterization labs have the equipment needed to visualize a patient's heart and locate abnormalities, said LaGrange. 

She added the new interim centre will be operational in early 2027, four years before the permanent labs are available to patients. 

John Donald told reporters on Monday that he lost his father to heart failure last year, making the timing of the new cardiac centre all the more important to him. 

"While [my father's] story was different it really reinforced something we already knew when it came to heart care … central Alberta has been waiting way too long," Donald said. 

"We have an opportunity today to save lives."

If passed, the provincial government's 2025 budget will see it commit an additional $3 million in startup funds to the cardiac centre.