“A state of emergency”: an update on Alberta healthcare
By Alexander Howey, February 20 2026—
The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is calling on the province to declare a public health state of emergency over concerns of overcrowded emergency rooms (ER).
This follows the passing of 44 year-old Prashant Sreekumar at Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Community Hospital, a few days before Christmas.
According to his family, Sreekumar passed after waiting in the ER for nearly eight hours with increasing blood pressure and chest pains.
Alberta’s healthcare system has been characterized by long ER wait times, lengthy waits for surgeries and tests, overcrowded hospital rooms and more sick patients than beds to put them in.
Last year, the provincial government split Alberta Health Services into four separate agencies: Primary Care Alberta (family doctors), Acute Care (hospitals, surgeries), Assisted Living and Recovery Alberta (mental health/addiction).
According to Interim CEO of Acute Care Alberta David Diamond, the province’s 16 largest hospitals have been operating at 102 per cent capacity.
Diamond suggested that the ideal operating capacity is between 85 and 90 per cent.
“There’s lots of patients that are suffering for 10, 12, 14 hours with severe pain that we can’t get pain meds or comfort to,” explained Dr. Paul Parks, the president-elect of the emergency physicians’ section of the AMA.
“This is actually a plea for help to our government from our front-line health-care workers in our hospitals, saying it is getting impossible to deliver safety and timely care to all of patients and we need help — we need a provincial response,” Parks stated.
While the province has reiterated its commitment to add 1,000 hospital beds in both Calgary and Edmonton, Parks explained that these spaces are complex to build, and won’t come online for the larger part of a decade.
On Jan. 15, the provincial government acknowledged that major hospitals are operating at above 100 per cent capacity, and they outlined some measures to address the issue.
Firstly, an ER triage liaison will be sent to six of the busiest hospitals in Calgary and Edmonton.
A triage liaison determines how urgently a patient needs to be seen through evaluating their condition, symptoms and medical history.
In an interview with CBC, AMA president Dr. Brian Wirzba discussed how this plan could improve the flow of patients in the ER and ensure patients are properly prioritized, saying the decision will be welcomed by ER doctors.
“[It’s] an important Band-Aid, but it’s not dealing with the root cause,” Wirzba explained.
The Alberta government additionally announced dashboards to inform people of the performance of health systems throughout the province by making up-to-date data widely accessible.
The dashboard shows surgical wait times and volumes, with more information expected to be added in the coming weeks, including emergency medical services and primary care data.
The dashboard can be accessed at www.alberta.ca/health-system-dashboard for more information.