Fee charged to hospital patients waiting for long-term care points to system bottleneck, some say – CBC

Alternative Level of Care Accommodation Charge used to recoup some costs, province says

Feb 17, 2026

Last Christmas, Jack MacTavish, 92, was taken to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary to be treated for congestive heart failure, a urinary tract infection and, later, pneumonia.

His daughter, Joan MacTavish, says he was living in a seniors’ home in northwest Calgary with his 93-year-old wife at the time.

Joan says she was approached by hospital staff after weeks of care, who said her father would now need to go to a supportive living facility — and that she needed to sign a form agreeing to pay nearly $70 per day while her dad waits in the hospital for a spot to open up.

“I am frustrated. I am disappointed. I am questioning it,” said Joan. “I said I did not understand why we were paying a fee at all because he was in the hospital being looked after by doctors and nurses, and as far as I knew that was something that would be covered under Alberta health care.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/long-term-care-placement-hospitals-9.7089076