Airdrie needs a 24-hour emergency room

Residents of Airdrie must drive to the north end of Calgary or north to Didsbury for urgent care in the middle of the night.  The mayor of Airdrie is hopeful that it can change.

Peter Brown recently met with Sarah Hoffman, who is the new Alberta Minister of Health.  He admitted that he is hopeful that the City of Airdrie will secure the financial resources from the province to build a new facility with a 24-hour emergency room.

There are nearly 60,000 residents in Airdrie who have been waiting for several years and lobbying the province to see the necessity of urgent care 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

Residents needing medical attention after 10:00 pm have to drive at least half an hour or more to Calgary to the closest emergency room at Peter Lougheed Hospital on 36 Street NE.

Before the current NDP government took the reins last spring, the previous provincial body had offered Airdrie a commitment to provide funds for a $35 million health campus, which would include an urgent care facility.  In anticipation of the event, a generous citizen donated a 10 acre plot for a possible health care development.  However, the current regime hasn’t taken up the torch to follow through although Hoffman is open to discussions provided all stakeholders can get over the one and only obstacle:  money.

The low price of oil is one factor that Hoffman said is certainly in the way, and is applying “acute pressure” to every new project under consideration by her department.

However, Mayor Brown isn’t totally relying on the provincial government to come up with the funding and says he is optimistic that community partners and other generous donors in the Airdrie area can come up with the money.  He is confident that the new urgent care centre is “going to happen”.

The deputy health minister for Alberta, Carl Amrhein, has agreed to meet with Airdrie’s major and other officials after Christmas to examine the issue more fully.

Many Airdrie residents, including a mom who lost a son enroute to the hospital have been working for years to get a 24-hour ER room in the city.  Michelle Bates is now with the Airdrie Health Foundation and she’s been at it for six years.  She says as Airdrie gets bigger, it’s important to keep pushing.

The land for a new facility was donated by Hugh Hamilton, a long-time Airdrie businessman.  Now in the possession of the Airdrie Health Foundation, Hamilton jokingly told media he donated the land to the community because his wife made him.  However, he quickly reiterated that Airdrie has been good to him and his family.

The land is in north east Airdrie near Hamilton Boulevard.  There are no utilities yet but is in close proximity to highways.   If the location doesn’t pan out for a 24-hour urgent care facility and health campus, an official with the foundation said it could be sold and the proceeds used to build a facility elsewhere in the city.