ER doctor challenges Alberta premier to come on shift, see patients wait in hallways – CBC
Province says delays in emergency departments are shorter than in other large provinces
Jul 07, 2025
The head of emergency medicine for Alberta’s doctors association is challenging Premier Danielle Smith to join him on shift to see the frustration of patients jammed for hours in hallways and the moral injury of doctors looking into the eyes of the those who wait.
“It’s this kind of vicarious trauma, this inability to help when we’re helpers, that is causing us to leave,” Dr. Warren Thirsk said in an interview.
“Unless you experience it, you don’t really get it.
“When the premier has a health emergency, do you think she’s going to sit in my waiting room and wait 13 hours to be seen?
“I would challenge her to come and sit in my waiting room for 13 hours.”
Thirsk made the comments in the wake of a new survey measuring patients’ experiences released late last week by the Alberta Medical Association, which represents the province’s physicians.
