RED DEER, AB: The NDP has snubbed central Alberta yet again, leaving the much-needed hospital expansion at Red Deer Regional Hospital off Alberta Health Services’ (AHS) health care infrastructure priority list.
This year’s list includes billions in infrastructure dollars for projects in Edmonton and Calgary but ignores the only major hospital in central Alberta, which has long been plagued with surgical delays, overcrowding, and a lack of specialized services for years.
“While the people of central Alberta have been waiting patiently for this badly-needed project, the NDP proves time and time again that it is completely out of touch with the priorities of everyday Albertans,” said United Conservative Health Critic Tany Yao. “Instead, this government will waste $1.4 billion this year alone on interest payments to service its out-of-control debt, which would more than cover the cost of this project.”
The NDP has also chosen to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed healthcare funding on ideological projects like state-run laundry and lab services – functions that the private sector was already successfully providing.
“This should be about doing the right thing for central Alberta, not playing politics,” said United Conservative MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Nathan Cooper. “It is not unreasonable for the residents of Alberta’s third largest city, and those surrounding Red Deer, to have access to proper health serves. In the meantime, central Albertans continue to face lengthy wait times or hours of travel to receive the life-saving treatment they deserve to get much closer to home.”