Hands Off Our Hospitals

Hands off Our Hospitals

Communities across the province are already experiencing emergency room closures, overcrowded wards, and exhausted staff. These failures are not accidents—they are the direct result of chronic underfunding, privatization experiments, and government inaction.

By 2026, the Edmonton area is projected to face a shortage of 1,500 hospital beds. This looming crisis is driven by population growth, aging infrastructure, and stalled hospital construction projects. The cancellation of the planned South Edmonton Hospital has only made the situation worse.

On any given day, roughly 1,500 acute-care hospital beds in Alberta are occupied by patients who no longer require hospital-level care but cannot be discharged due to a lack of home care and continuing care options. These systemic bottlenecks prevent new patients from getting the beds they urgently need.

In 2024, rural hospitals across Alberta were shuttered for more than 34,000 hours due to staff shortages and closures. Families in small towns have been forced to travel hours to the nearest emergency care—delays that put lives at risk.

Privatization schemes have repeatedly failed to deliver results. From the disastrous lab services experiment that cost Albertans nearly $100 million, to the increased reliance on for-profit surgical centres, privatization has meant fewer services in public hospitals and longer waits for patients.

Problem

Increased
wait times

Albertans are waiting longer for vital care, risking worsening conditions and delayed treatment outcomes.

Problem

Staffing
shortages

Healthcare workers are stretched thin, leaving patients without timely, quality care across the province.

Problem

Reduced
ER services

Emergency rooms are scaling back services, leaving communities vulnerable in urgent, life-threatening situations.

Problem

Crowded
waiting rooms

Patients endure overcrowded waiting rooms, creating unsafe conditions and adding stress to vulnerable families.

Problem

Family
doctor shortage

Many Albertans cannot access a family doctor, undermining preventative care and early diagnoses.

Problem

Facility
closures

Hospital and clinic closures force patients to travel farther for care, worsening health inequities province-wide.

Problem

Rising
privatization

Privatization is growing, forcing patients to pay out-of-pocket and eroding universal healthcare access.

Problem

Mental
health gaps

Underfunded services leave mental health needs unmet, pushing vulnerable Albertans into crisis without proper care.

Staffing Shortages

"I went to the hospital with severe pain, but staffing shortages meant endless waiting. Nurses were exhausted, doctors overwhelmed. I felt forgotten, and worried my condition would worsen before help arrived."

Caleb Smith

Calgary

Solution

Put an end to chaotic restructuring and privatization schemes

Solution

Restore trust with healthcare professionals

Solution

Spend public money on public healthcare

Solution

Create a provincial workforce plan focused on retention and recruitment

Solution

Invest now to stabilize the system

Solution

Ban out-of-pocket access fees and membership fees

Solution

Strengthen rural and community care

Solution

Expand mental health supports

Sign the Petition

With an ongoing shortage of family doctors and continuous facility closures, Albertans are struggling to access the health care they need, and our hospitals are our last line of defense. Over the past several months, we’ve seen the UCP government make an escalating series of concerning changes to how our hospitals are allowed to operate:

August 17, 2024: At a private UCP membership meeting, Premier Danielle Smith shared plans to remove Alberta Health Services (AHS) as the operator of some hospitals
November 18, 2024: Acute Care Alberta was unveiled, one of four new agencies tasked with overseeing health care services in place of AHS, stoking confusion and uncertainty for workers and patients
February 28, 2025: The provincial budget revealed plans to transfer the titles of hundreds of health care facilities to Alberta Infrastructure, which Premier Smith said will allow the government to “choose the operator” and “repurpose them to [their] needs.”
April 1, 2025: Hundreds of hospitals and other health care facilities were placed directly under the ownership and control of the provincial government through Alberta Infrastructure
April 7, 2025: Hospitals were switched to Activity-Based Funding for surgeries, a return to a voucher system which prioritizes competition over ensuring quality of care
May 2025: Bill 55 passed, allowing the government to appoint entities “other than a provincial health agency or provincial health corporation” to operate hospitals
June 17, 2025: Decision making was seized from AHS, instead requiring each hospital to make their own decisions around staff, resources and services in the midst of a chronic short-staffing crisis

… What else do they have in store for our public hospitals?? Are for-profit hospital operators the next step?

Any plan to privatize acute care facilities or sell off hospitals should be a non-starter. Yet given the track record of the UCP government, Albertans have plenty of cause to be concerned. Albertans own these hospitals. We depend on them. And we deserve to know that the government’s plan for them serves the public interest, not the financial interests of for-profit corporations and their shareholders.

Which is why it’s urgent we take action before it’s too late.

Albertans deserve strong, well-funded public hospitals.

Alberta’s hospitals are in crisis. Internal Alberta Health Services documents warn that the Edmonton region alone will be short 1,500 hospital beds by 2026.

hours of rural hospital closures occurred in Alberta in 2024, driven by severe staff shortages.

The evidence is clear.
Privatization fails Albertans

Alarming Shortages Ahead

Blocked
Hospital Beds

Rural Hospitals Under Threat

Failed
Privatization

Patients received timely surgery