Patients visiting Edmonton-area emergency departments are waiting longer, staying longer and accounting for nearly two-thirds of Alberta’s longest ER stays, according to newly released Alberta Health Services (AHS) data.
Edmonton Zone dominates longest ER stays
The figures, released after an access to information request, span from fiscal year 2020/21 to February 2026. They show that as of the start of 2026, the Edmonton Zone was the site of 65 per cent of all emergency department stays lasting more than 48 hours in Alberta, with 8,160 such stays compared to 4,305 for the rest of the province combined.
That Edmonton Zone figure has more than quadrupled since 2021/22, when it was fewer than 2,000 a year, and has increased at more than double the overall provincial rate over the past four fiscal years. By the end of fiscal year 2024/25, the city’s Misericordia hospital was the site of nearly one-in-five emergency department stays of two days or more province-wide, with its count of 2,557 slightly exceeding all hospitals in the Calgary Zone combined at 2,525.
Waiting longer, staying longer
Similarly, the average length of stay in Edmonton Zone facilities has grown by two hours since 2021/22, double the one-hour average increase seen province-wide. At the end of last calendar year, patients had an average stay of nine hours and 18 minutes in Edmonton Zone hospitals, compared to the Alberta average of six hours and 18 minutes.
The provincial average emergency department stay has increased by about 26 per cent since 2021/22, rising from roughly five hours to more than six hours. Over the same time, the Edmonton Zone’s average has grown by 37 per cent, up to more than nine hours.
Physician assessment wait times also longest
A similar pattern is apparent for how long patients waited on average for an initial assessment from a physician. Across all Alberta facilities, that number rose from one hour and 48 minutes five years ago to nearly 2.5 hours as of last December. The Edmonton Zone recorded the longest average wait for an initial physician assessment at roughly 3.5 hours, up 96 minutes from 2021/22 — a 73 per cent increase.
The increase in delays appears to have outpaced growth in patient volumes. The number of visits since March 2021 grew by 13 per cent across all of Alberta and at a comparable 12 per cent in the Edmonton Zone.
‘We know Albertans expect better’
In an emailed statement, Acute Care Alberta said action was underway to improve patient flow and cut wait times. “These include strengthening community-based care to help avoid unnecessary ED visits, ensuring Albertans receive the right care in the right setting while alleviating pressure on emergency departments,” it read.
