Calgary, Edmonton units to reduce ER wait times

Calgary and Edmonton are each getting a new hospital patient unit to try to cut emergency room wait times and improve access to beds, Alberta Health Services announced Thursday.

A 12-bed medical assessment unit at Calgary's Rockyview General Hospital started taking patients three weeks ago but had its official opening Thursday.

A unit with 12 to 16 beds will open at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital in May. Each unit will cost about $1.75 million a year to run and will have 15 doctors and nurses.

The move should ensure that patients who go to emergency with more complicated conditions are moved to where they can be assessed more thoroughly, said Dr. William Dickout of the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

"These patients are currently being dealt with in emergency stretcher spaces," said Dickout. "What we're going to do, ultimately … [is] free up some additional spaces for emergency patients that require, maybe, shorter terms of care."

Health officials hope the move will reduce wait times over the next three years from 16 hours to eight hours for complex cases, and from 5.6 hours to four hours for less complicated ones.

Stephen Duckett, the head of AHS, took the idea from his home country of Australia.

"Extra capacity — that's the first thing. So there's more places to put patients. And secondly, because it is a dedicated unit, they're going to be able to work to move people through," he said.

Dr. Lester Mercuur, deputy clinic head with emergency services in the Calgary area, said the new units will be more pleasant for patients not needing emergency procedures than the emergency room.

"It's a noisy environment. It's not conducive to any kind of care. [We'll be] getting them into a space where they can be looked after by dedicated staff who have an interest and expertise in looking after their needs," he said.

AHS plans to open similar projects to help deal with wait times at other emergency departments in the province over the next year.