South Edmonton Hospital project shelved as province halts funding | CBC News

The Alberta government has effectively halted plans to build a long-promised hospital in south Edmonton, a move receiving backlash from municipal leaders and advocates.

Alberta’s newly released budget, tabled Thursday by Finance Minister Nate Horner, doesn’t contain any new funding for the South Edmonton hospital project.

The planned hospital was a commitment from the NDP government in 2017 that carried over when the United Conservatives took office in 2019.

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It comes less than two days after Health Minister Adriana LaGrange hinted the government would be hitting the pause button on the project to make way for a standalone facility for the Stollery Children’s Hospital, committing $20 million over three years.

LaGrange told reporters Tuesday the South Edmonton Hospital project would be paused so government officials can have a more comprehensive look at how to better serve the needs of Edmontonians and all of northern Alberta.

Alberta had spent a total of $69 million on the hospital project, setting a target of spending $634 million by 2025-26 as recently as last year’s capital budget.

The province estimates the hospital project would cost $5 billion to build, which will now be spread out across other health projects.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he was glad to see new investments in public safety, housing shelters and addictions recovery, but is “very disappointed” the hospital project is not being funded. 

“That has been promised since 2019, so it’s a much needed hospital,” Sohi told reporters Thursday.

Sohi said he looks forward to meeting with LaGrange to get some more insight into why the province decided to halt the project.

Alberta has outlined $26.2 billion in promised health-care spending in this year’s budget, a 4.4 per cent increase — more than $1 billion — over last year. It includes $475 million to modernize Alberta’s primary health care system.

Chris Gallaway, executive director at Friends of Medicare, told reporters that Albertans are concerned about access to their public health care and said Thursday’s budget doesn’t solve that issue.

When asked about the cancellation of the South Edmonton hospital project, Gallaway said the Edmonton area is lacking hundreds of hospital bed spaces, citing documentation from Alberta Health Services.

We should be building hospitals now, he said.

“To stop a hospital they had already put money into is senseless,” he said.

 “$20 million will not build an elementary school, let alone a standalone children’s hospital.”

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley told reporters Premier Danielle Smith “completely broke her promise” to Edmontonians by cancelling the project.

Jasvir Deol, the Alberta NDP’s infrastructure critic, said in a statement prior to Thursday’s budget that the UCP’s cancellation of the project “recklessly” puts the lives of Albertans at risk.

“The need for new medical care is dire and last July, the UCP had claimed they were committed to the project,” Deol said in the statement.

“Patients face long wait times in emergency departments. Space for needed surgeries is lacking. Health care access where it is needed demands more infrastructure, not a hospital cancellation.”