Opinion: Demand better hospital care for children

Calgary Herald

2 days ago

Kids across Alberta are waiting longer than ever in emergency rooms. When they are admitted, they face increasingly difficult hospital stays marred by staffing shortages and resource constraints.
Article content
We see this crisis impacting real children and real families in real time, and we see it every day. Our youngest patients deserve the best-in-class hospital care, but right now we're being stretched beyond our limits.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Every winter, we brace for a surge of viral illnesses such as RSV, influenza and COVID. Hospital admissions nearly double. Our intensive care units fill up. We care for sicker children on regular wards, and emergency room wait times grow dangerously long. We worry every day that a child waiting too long might get worse before we can help.
Article content
Article content
This isn't new. It happens every year. And yet, our health system continues to treat the winter viral surge like a surprise. We need change.
Article content
And the crisis doesn't stop at physical illness. We are seeing more children in mental health distress than ever before — youth with eating disorders, children who have self-harmed and those in acute psychological crisis. Alberta Children's Hospital is not a mental health facility, but, as pediatricians, we are often asked to act as psychiatrists, psychologists and behavioural specialists — roles we are not trained or staffed to fill.
Article content
We're privileged to walk alongside families during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Whether caring for children battling mental health concerns, viral illnesses or new diagnoses of diabetes or cancer, pediatricians are here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because your children deserve nothing less.
Article content
We are doing everything we can. But we cannot do it alone. We need your voice, and we need your action. Please contact your MLA and demand: