Category: surgery wait times

Alberta Premier Open to Reimbursing Out-of-Province Surgeries

EDMONTON—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is open to the idea of the province potentially reimbursing people who need to travel out of province for medically necessary surgery if it cannot be provided quickly enough at home. During Ms. Smith’s weekly radio call-in show, Your Premier, Your Province, a caller sent in a message stating he needed…


Long Medical Wait Times Costs Patients $3.6 Billion in Lost Wages: Study Estimates

Excessive wait times for medically necessary surgery and treatment cost close to $3.6 billion in lost wages and productivity in 2022, according to a new research report by the Fraser Institute, a non-partisan think tank. The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, 2023, released May 9, values only the hours lost during…


Alberta Government Claims Reduced Hospital Wait Times, Faster EMS Response With 90 Day Health Care Update

On the eve of the release of the 2023 Alberta budget, and roughly three months from the next election, Premier Danielle Smith released on Monday 90-day statistics indicating health care wait times in the province are dropping. Alberta first launched a new Health Care Action Plan (HCAP) on Nov. 17, 2022, and vowed to dramatically…