Cath lab project moving to the next stage

By Lethbridge Herald on October 24, 2024.

Planning for a new cardiac catheterization laboratory at Chinook Regional Hospital is finished and Alberta Health is moving the project to its next stage, the provincial government says.

That stage will define the scope, schedule, budget and associated impacts of the project which was first announced in 2022.

The province said this week that Alberta Health Services earlier this year submitted a needs assessment for cardiac services in southern Alberta. And while normally the next step would be to develop a business case to assess options to address identified needs and gaps, the province says the needs assessment of the cath lab project “identified solutions within existing facilities and it was determined the project could advance to functional programming. This will expedite the project timelines by up to one year.”

The province has approved $2 million in funding to support planning for the project.

According to the Alberta government, southern Alberta residents are 30 per cent more likely to die from a cardiac-related disease. It also says needs assessment recommended construction of new intensive care units at both CRH and the Medicine Hat Hospital as well as the development of interventional cardiac services in this city.

In a media statement, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said “residents in southern Alberta should not have to travel for comprehensive cardiac care. Expanding services and building a new cardiac catheterization lab will help residents access the services and treatments they need close to home.”

Minister of Infrastructure Pete Guthrie says the province is looking forward to delivering the new lab “in a timely and cost-effective manner to improve access to vital cardiac services for residents in southern Alberta.”