By Dean Bennett / Canadian Press

AHS to delay up to 30% of surgeries in North Zone, Calgary & Edmonton as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise

Apr 28, 2021 | 5:30 AM

EDMONTON – Alberta Health Services says it will reduce scheduled surgical activity up to 30 per cent in the Edmonton, Calgary and North zones due to rising COVID-19 case numbers.

The province says it will also reduce some non-urgent procedures and ambulatory appointments.

It says in a series of posts on Twitter that these services will be reduced over the next two weeks and they will be rebooked as soon as possible.

“Surgery, ambulatory and scheduled procedures that are being postponed will be rebooked as soon as possible. Only patients affected by this temporary measure will be contacted by AHS and will be rescheduled in the future. If you are not contacted, you are not impacted,” says AHS in its tweet thread.

Alberta Health Services says the changes will allow hospitals to expand inpatient beds if necessary and create more capacity for COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization.

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It says it currently has adequate capacity for both hospitalized and intensive care unit patients but can ramp up the number of ICU spaces if demand increases.

The government says it is concerned about the increasing number of cases in the community and in health-care facilities and is urging people to follow public health restrictions.

(The Canadian Press)