Improvements in access to health services was recently discussed by the Alberta government, and residents will hopefully find it easier to access the health care services that they need in the future. Stephen Mandel, the Alberta Health Minister, announced that more than 300 restorative care beds will quickly be made available, making it easier for seniors to recover and get back home faster. This effort is also intended to increase the flow of patients as they move through local emergency rooms, and hopefully will also help decrease ER patient wait times as well. According to Mandel “People need to be able to get out of those emergency rooms and into beds within the hospital. We hope this will cure some of the problems — we believe it will cure many — but if we’re not successful at moving people from the new restorative beds and back into the community, we won’t be. We need to take pressure off the system. It’s not going to be overnight solutions, I wish I could waive a magic wand to change it.”

According to the Alberta government there will be an additional 311 beds as a result to improvements in access to health services. Rachel Notley, the NDP Leader, was critical of the announcement and stated “I think Albertans need to be skeptical at best. It’s great to have this brand new category of beds, but I’m afraid that all that’s going to do is restore people back onto the curb where they continue to wait for the long-term care beds this government has made a considered decision to stop building.”