From the Vision 2020: The Future of Health Care in Alberta PHASE ONE,

“Alberta is a leader in health care. Our health system is staffed and led by dedicated and outstanding health providers and professionals. We provide leading edge treatments and technologies and have become a national and international leader in health research. Yet there are increasing challenges and pressures on the system that must be addressed.
Health-care facilities are not used equitably. Some facilities are operating at their capacity, while others are underused. Today in Alberta, the 10 largest hospitals in the province have an average occupancy of more than 90 per cent. The vast majority of long-term care facilities have greater than 96 per cent occupancy. However, more than half of the hospitals in Alberta with fewer than 20 beds have occupancy rates below 75 per cent, and almost 20 per cent of these have occupancy rates below 50 per cent. And, almost 50 per cent of Alberta’s hospitals with fewer than 20 beds are within 50 kilometres of another hospital.
Access to some services takes too long. Sometimes patients are not being cared for in the right setting, resulting in increased waits for needed services. Too many emergent patients are using emergency departments for health concerns that could be handled by a primary care practitioner, and too many continuing care patients are being cared for in hospitals. This backs up admissions throughout the hospital and delays emergency room admissions and hospital services for people needing scheduled surgical procedures.
There are critical shortages of health service providers. As just one example, Alberta currently has a shortage of more than 1,500 nurses. By 2020, if care patterns do not change and training is not expanded, the province may be short by more than 6,000 nurses. Adding to the shortage is the fact that only 40 per cent of Alberta’s registered nurses work full-time, the lowest rate in the country and well below the Canadian average of 56 per cent. Alberta also has a growing shortage of allied health care providers, including pharmacists, physical therapists, medical technologists, and especially health-care aides.
Our population is growing, rapidly aging and facing a significant burden of chronic disease. Alberta’s population is predicted to grow by another half million people by the year 2020. Between 2007 and 2020, forecasts show the demand for hospital beds in Alberta will grow by 32 per cent, the demand for long-term care beds will climb by 52 per cent, and the demand for primary care physicians and nurses will rise 40 per cent. The high prevalence of chronic disease and cancer will drive a disproportionate share of health-care costs.”

See more at: http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/Vision-2020-Phase-1-2008.pdf

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