Alberta’s health minister says help is coming for children’s hospitals

Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says help is on the way to deal with strain on the province’s two children’s hospitals as they deal with a rise in respiratory illnesses.

A surge in patients at Alberta’s Children’s Hospital has prompted Alberta Health Services to redeploy staff to the hospital from a facility that provides respite care for chronically and terminally ill children.

Health officials have said the Calgary hospital and the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton have been operating at or over 100 per cent of their normal capacity for the past month.

Alberta Health Services also set up a heated trailer outside the emergency department at Alberta Children’s Hospital last month to help with crowding and weather conditions.

Copping says there are some signs the respiratory viruses could be hitting their peak, and the government is working to build capacity in the system.

He says there’s no immediate plan to replicate what’s happening in Ontario by postponing pediatric surgeries or bringing in outside agencies to help.