Alberta Says ER Deaths ‘Not Systemic,’ Just Repeated, Documented, and Preventable
Alberta’s ongoing measles outbreak marked another milestone this week, as the province issued a public alert confirming the virus had successfully completed a brief but productive visit to the Royal Alexandra Hospital cafeteria.
Health officials say one infectious person spent nearly three hours at the hospital’s main foyer and food court on Jan. 9, giving measles ample time to circulate, browse, and possibly consider a muffin. The exposure comes as Alberta reports 14 active cases and a total of 2,042 since the outbreak began in March 2025, with 28 new cases confirmed as of Jan. 16 – numbers the province described as “concerning, but not surprising, given everything.”
As Alberta emergency room doctors raise alarms about worsening delays in care, the province’s hospitals minister reassured residents this week that the troubling cases recently highlighted are not, in his view, representative of reality, much like smoke is not representative of fire.
Last week, ER physicians submitted a list to government officials detailing six potentially preventable deaths and at least 27 other cases where delays allegedly helped turn medical emergencies into administrative conclusions. Patient names and locations were removed, leaving only the outcomes and the unsettling sense that something is very wrong.
One emergency physician described the list as a “cry for help,” adding it represents only “the tip of the iceberg.” The minister responded by noting that icebergs, by definition, are mostly underwater and therefore not something the province feels the need to comment on.
Health officials emphasized the system is functioning as designed, provided patients do not require urgency, timeliness, or survival. Further reassurances are expected once a review confirms the delays are, statistically speaking, happening to other people.
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