Letter to the Firewall: 'I Voted UCP and Now My Hospital Is a Series of Tents. Disappointed But Not Surprised.'

An Edmonton-area reader writes in to share their experience navigating Alberta's restructured healthcare system, including a seven-hour wait to be triaged in what was technically the parking lot.

By Staff Reporter · The Alberta Advantage · 2026-05-20

To the Editor:

I am writing to share my recent experience with the new Alberta healthcare system, and to do so as a long-time supporter of the United Conservative Party, in the hope that this might be useful information for the party going forward, although I am no longer hopeful that it will be.

On the morning of May 11, my wife began experiencing significant chest pain. We drove to our nearest hospital, which is a regional facility I will not name because the people working there are kind, professional, and clearly doing their best. We arrived at the emergency department to find that the emergency department had been relocated to a series of tents in the visitor parking lot, where the relocation, I was told, was "temporary," "due to renovations," and "scheduled to conclude in 2027."

We waited seven hours in those tents to be triaged. My wife, who is 64 years old and has voted UCP every election since 1993, was eventually seen by a physician who confirmed that her chest pain was, fortunately, not cardiac. I am grateful to that physician. I am also informed that this physician will not be at this hospital next month, having been "redeployed" under the new four-agency structure.

I want to be specific about what I am writing, because I do not want to be misunderstood as engaging in partisan complaint. I supported the dismantling of Alberta Health Services. I supported the creation of the four new agencies. I supported the provincial sovereignty file, the police service file, the pension plan study, and most of what the Premier has done in office. I believed the government when it said the changes would deliver better care.

I am writing now because I no longer believe the government when it says this. I no longer believe the government when it explains what its new agency structure does. I no longer believe the government when it says the wait times reflect "transitional" effects. I no longer believe the government when it says, with a straight face, that the system is improving.

I am 67 years old. I have voted in every provincial election since the year I turned 18. I do not know what I will do next time, but I know I will not be voting for the government that put my wife in a tent.

Sincerely,

A reader, southern Alberta

I asked the nurse where the emergency department was, and she pointed at a row of tents and said, 'You're in it.' I have voted for this party four times. I think I see the problem now.

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