Premier Danielle Smith said November 7 that physicians are now working in triage roles at six Alberta emergency departments. The approach was announced in January after the death of Prashant Sreekumar, who waited nearly eight hours for assessment at an Edmonton emergency room in December 2025. Negotiations over physician contracts and operating details delayed implementation.
The change is intended to help identify patients who can be assessed, treated or redirected sooner. Emergency physicians have cautioned that adding doctors at the front of the department will not necessarily solve overcrowding caused by limited inpatient beds, high demand or delayed discharges. The government has not yet published a before-and-after evaluation establishing how much the program has changed waiting times.
The most important outstanding questions are which six hospitals are participating, how many additional physician hours they have gained and whether time to assessment and admission have actually improved. Calgary facilities should be considered individually rather than assuming a provincewide announcement applies to every emergency department. A public inquiry into Sreekumar’s death is scheduled to continue in December.
