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Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP
By Abby Zieverink
QEII hospital capacity

Mayor seeking answers from health minister on QEII staffing challenges, COVID response

Sep 1, 2021 | 7:19 AM

Grande Prairie Mayor Jackie Clayton has sent a letter to Alberta’s Minister of Health Tyler Shandro, on behalf of council, regarding their concerns over the Queen Elizabeth II hospital running over capacity.

This came after a rise in hospitalizations for COVID-19 led Alberta Health Services to begin delaying roughly 45 elective surgeries per week at the QEII to create additional COVID-19 bed spaces.

AHS also made the decision this past weekend to divert nine patients from the QEII to other North Zone hospitals, as the need for COVID-19 bed spaces grew.

“Grande Prairie City Council is alarmed at the news of the QEII hospital running over capacity resulting in patients having to be relocated to other health facilities,” Clayton wrote in the letter.

Clayton’s letter follows a memo sent to council from AHS on August 27, which stated that one of the other reasons for the postponement of these surgeries is due to “unexpected staff vacancies,” which Clayton says is “very concerning.”

“The staffing of our local healthcare facilities greatly affects the quality of our resident’s lives and council is concerned with the immediate impacts that a staffing shortage could have in our community.”

Clayton also says council is worried about what impact the QEII staffing shortages will have on the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, which is set to open to the public on December 4.

“Council is also concerned with the longer-term impact that staffing shortages could have with the Regional Hospital opening to the community in December and the additional staff that are going to be required there.”

The letter also seeks an update on the staffing challenges at the QEII hospital, and the steps Alberta Health Services is taking to fix them.

Clayton says the recognizes the rise of COVID-19 cases has sent the city into a fourth wave. In the letter, she also calls on Shandro to provide clear guidance on a municipal response and plan.

“We have and will continue to support the Province’s public health measures during the first three waves of the pandemic and we will monitor the Province’s response as we enter into the fourth wave.”

READ MORE: City committee rejects sending mask bylaw for council debate

The letter from City Council was also cc’d to Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard, GP-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews and AHS Board Member Natalia Reiman.

A city standing committee also passed a motion on Tuesday for local AHS officials to provide an in-person update to City Council at a future meeting.

Letter from Mayor Jackie Clayon on behalf of city council to AHS. (Photo: City of Grande Prairie, Facebook)
Memo from AHS, notifying City Council of the elective surgery cancellations. (Photo: City of Grande Prairie, Facebook)
by Abby Zieverink