Paramedic turnaround time in leaked email is a target not a mandate, AHS says

The province says it never issued an order requiring paramedics to off-load their patients at ERs within 45 minutes regardless of the capacity of medical staff.

On Monday, the NDP Official Opposition released an email it says a distraught unit manager sent to staff in the ER at Calgary Foothills Hospital on Friday. It says that patients will be off-loaded by paramedics in 45 minutes or less at Calgary ERs starting on March 15, regardless of whether there are staff at the hospital available. 

The unidentified manager says in the leaked email that the directive was mandated by the government. 

"I know this comes as a big shock to all of us and I am not sure how we are going to manage this," they write. "Please know if there was anything I could do to prevent this I would but this is being mandated from the government."

In Monday's question period, NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the plan is dangerous and dishonest. 

"How is the premier going to implement this plan safely, Mr. Speaker?" she asked. 

Health Minister Jason Copping said the government didn't issue an order. He said the 45-minute turnaround is an objective set by the Alberta EMS provincial advisory committee. 

The committee, chaired by UCP MLAs RJ Sigurdson and Tracy Allard, released its report with 53 recommendations in January.

Not a mandate

Alberta Health Services spokesperson Kerry Williamson echoed Copping's statement that the 45-minute time frame is a target, not a mandate. 

"No one will be abandoned in a hospital," he wrote. "AHS is working hard to meet these targets by making numerous steps to improve offload times.

"The origin of the email is unknown at this time. It is concerning that such an email has been sent as this is not a directive or a mandate, it is a target to work toward."

Premier Danielle Smith said the government set aside money in last week's provincial budget to add 114 full-time-equivalent nurses to emergency rooms.

They would be in charge of receiving patients from paramedics and getting them into the ER. 

Notley said it would be impossible to hire that number of nurses before March 15. 

"Can't go down to the nurses' store and pick up a pallet of nurses," she said. 

Notley added that front-line staff have not been told that reinforcements are coming.

She said the government is more focused on generating "pretend statistics" in news releases than actually protecting the health-care system.