Alberta orders inquiry into death of man waiting for care at Edmonton hospital E.R.

Alberta Hospitals Minister Matt Jones says there will be a judge-led fatality inquiry to learn more about what happened when a 44-year-old man died while waiting for care in an Edmonton hospital. Jones announced the inquiry during a Thursday update with other health officials on the state of Alberta hospitals. They were also slated to discuss the death last month of a man waiting for care in an Edmonton emergency department. Prashant Sreekumar, 44, died just before Christmas in the Grey Nuns Hospital emergency room waiting area. He waited more than eight hours with chest pains before collapsing and dying. Get weekly health news Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy . The Alberta Medical Association , which represents physicians, is calling for changes to better manage hospital patient loads . Hundreds of doctors have demanded system-wide fixes to overcrowding. Also this week, more than 300 emergency room and internal medicine physicians urged restored integration and co-ordination across a system that has seen a massive restructuring. Acute Care Alberta (ACA) says it is co-ordinating a provincewide response to create capacity and free up resources. That includes dedicating 336 beds specifically for a challenging respiratory virus season and opening designated surge spaces to manage increased demand. Acute Care Alberta is one of a group of new provincial governing agencies created by Premier Danielle Smith’s government to replace Alberta Health Services, which was dismantled as the provincial health authority and relegated to being a hospital services provider. AHS is now splintered off into four different agencies - Acute Care Alberta (hospitals, surgeries), Primary Care Alberta (day-to-day health), Recovery Alberta (mental health/addiction), and Assisted Living Alberta (long-term care/support). - More to come... - With a file from Karen Bartko, Global News

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