Acute care beds per 1,000 people has fallen from 2.05 in 2017 to 1.59 last year. Our weekly Countdown to 2 Million special series continues.<\/p>\n
Published Mar 04, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0hour ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 18 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Fahima Mustanzid yearns to play a bigger role in finding a health-care solution in the fast-growing city she\u2019s called home after leaving Bangladesh in 2013.<\/p>\n But as an international physician, she said it\u2019s been a long, frustrating road to acquiring the qualifications needed to fulfil her dream of practising psychiatric or family medicine in Calgary.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n She\u2019s twice travelled back to her native Bangladesh to work in that country\u2019s health-care system to attain those credentials but balked, due to the difficulties in raising two young sons, when told a third trip was required.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe rules keep changing. They change very fast,\u201d said Mustanzid, 38.<\/p>\n Noon News Roundup<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But Mustanzid refuses to give up, throwing herself into new studies and exams toward gaining a medical residency in Calgary before realizing a full practise.<\/p>\n Interim work as a clinic assistant or manager in Calgary has illustrated just how much more physicians, including eager-to-work international doctors, are needed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen the huge suffering of patients at the clinic, seeing people who couldn\u2019t get into emergency \u2014 it\u2019s very frustrating how people are struggling,\u201d said Mustanzid.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a big resource Canada could benefit from.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s already been an advocate for renewing the province\u2019s approach to mental health care that she believes could benefit from international physicians\u2019 fresh perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is my home and I have to look for gaps that can be improved,\u201d said Mustanzid.<\/p>\n According to Alberta Health Services, the hiring of psychiatric physicians is expected to be greater than all other medical sectors, with 10-year growth pegged at 47 per cent higher than current levels.<\/p>\n The province\u2019s complement of international physicians struggling for qualification is oversized \u2014 1,200 out of the 3,700 across the country \u2014 and represent a significant pool of talent, says Deidre Lake, executive director of the Alberta International Medical Graduates Association.<\/p>\n \u201cSome barriers are being removed but in some places, barriers are being put in place to make it more difficult,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Mustanzid realizing her goal would add one piece to a complex aspirational puzzle assembled to meet the health care demands of a rapidly-growing city headed to a population of 2 million sometime in the next decade.<\/p>\n But according to some who\u2019ve worked within and observed the evolution of Alberta\u2019s health care system, it\u2019s been a story of regression and attempts to merely keep pace with the present.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re playing catch-up,\u201d said Dr. Raj Sherman, an Edmonton-area emergency room physician who served as Alberta\u2019s associate health minister from 2008 to 2010.<\/p>\n The province has been making up some of the ground lost during the 1990s when the Progressive Conservative government of then-premier Ralph Klein slashed health-care spending and reduced the number of nurses and doctors by 20 per cent in a bid to balance the province\u2019s budget, he said.<\/p>\n In Calgary, the Grace and Holy Cross Hospitals were closed and the Calgary General Hospital in Bridgeland explosively demolished. In 2012, some of that loss was recouped with the opening of the Calgary South Health Campus.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when health care got broken \u2014 other provinces have had challenges but Alberta did it the worst,\u201d said Sherman, a former Liberal MLA.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have staff for four million people with a (provincial) population of five million.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of acute care beds in Alberta that stood at 11,700 in the early 1990s now sits at 8,800, while the population has nearly doubled.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n That\u2019s seen the bed-per-patient ratio in the province plummet from 4.3 beds per thousand people to 2.4 beds, said Sherman, who once chaired the Health Quality Council of Alberta but quit in frustration over the level of spending in the system.<\/p>\n Calgary, a city which had 3,000 acute care beds in 1994 now counts 2,703, which includes the Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital even though the population has more than doubled since then. Acute care beds per 1,000 people has fallen from 2.05 in 2017 to 1.59 last year.<\/p>\n \u201cCalgary\u2019s system is stressed like the rest of Canada and maybe more because of the growth,\u201d said Sherman, adding the city and province are in the perfect medical storm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re five million people now and we\u2019re older and sicker \u2014 we\u2019re victims of our own economic success where you now have people with heart diseases live long enough to get cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n He cites a Danish model of medicine that emphasizes home and primary care and has an acute care bed ratio of 2.4 per 1,000 people. Following that example, Calgary at a population of two million would ideally have 4,800 acute care beds \u201cbut equally important is staffing those beds.\u201d<\/p>\n Because so much health care is specialized, many services need to delivered in major urban centres, meaning \u201cthe whole province depends on Edmonton and Calgary,\u201d said Sherman.<\/p>\n The province, he said, has taken some steps to remedy the provincial shortage of physicians by training more of them in rural areas.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n He was referring to new medical schools in Lethbridge and Grande Prairie whose wider aim is to create 210 medical seats throughout the province over four years.<\/p>\n Other new training spots are also in Calgary but Sherman said funding cuts to post-secondary institutions in recent years don\u2019t bode well for meeting the challenge posed by a civic population 25 per greater than the current count.<\/p>\n \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be cutting post-secondary (spending) \u2014 you have to create a system you retain your workforce and create your own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get ahead of the curve.\u201d<\/p>\n Sherman insisted a key to a sustainable health care future in larger Calgary \u2014 one recited by other experts \u2014 is to unblock an acute care logjam by moving seniors and others who shouldn\u2019t be in hospital to long-term care.<\/p>\n But that has to include more support for families, enabling them or professionals to care for elderly loved ones at home, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole problem is a flow problem but before you build more long-term care (facilities), invest heavily in home care,\u201d said Sherman, adding a home environment is one-seventh as expensive as hospital care.<\/p>\n Dr. Max Jajszczok agrees, saying Alberta needs to adapt its health care system faster than other jurisdictions due to its aging and growing population.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of impact is going to be felt more than anywhere else but what Alberta has going for it is a younger population,\u201d said Jajszczok, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Calgary\u2019s Cumming School of Medicine.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cWhere the constraints will be is in (the number of ) specialty services, registered nurses and emergency departments \u2014 it\u2019s going to be a tough change.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of seniors in Calgary is projected to increase from 268,000 this year to 371,000 by 2036 and to 483,000 a decade after that, he said. Those aged 85 years and over will jump from 25,000 to 44,000 in the next 10 years, he added.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no way the province can build enough spaces to accommodate that demographic wave, hence the need for more community and home-based care, said Jajszczok.<\/p>\n Family caregivers need to be supported with tax breaks and more leniency from employers when those care needs arise, he said, and when that work is calculated to be worth nearly $90 billion annually in Canada, \u201cit\u2019s like a silent workforce,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHome care needs to continue to grow at a rate much faster than the rest of the health system, this is the best way to support aging at home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople, policy makers, social service policy makers, such as those who are responsible for municipal operations should be asking, what is the rate of growth in home care services over the next five years for Calgary, is this keeping with population growth and demand?\u201d said Jajszczok.<\/p>\n And beyond that, there will be a significant increase to the number of people who will have dementia, require services in hospitals, for cancer treatment, and a family doctor specializing in geriatrics, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThis demographic change will have a direct impact on how the city looks and operates over the next 10 years, there will be stressors on all programs serving this sector and population,\u201d said Jajszczok.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n In its workforce forecast, Alberta Health Services said family physician numbers for the Calgary zone will grow by 43 per cent by 2033 with those specializing in elder care by far the largest cohort.<\/p>\n Reflecting the aging demographic, new senior care family docs will number nearly double that of replacement recruitments, it said.<\/p>\n At the same time, 1,500 specialist physicians are expected to be recruited by 2033 in the Calgary zone, 578 of those new with the rest replacing retiring or departing doctors.<\/p>\n According to the Alberta Medical Association, there were 1,640 of its members with student status in 2024, a number that dropped slightly the following year, to 1,564.<\/p>\n AMA membership in the Calgary Zone in 2023 numbered 4,606 physicians, a number that\u2019s risen steadily to 5,125 as of mid-February.<\/p>\n Last month, the province said it\u2019s committed to spending $450 million to recruit and train doctors, who it says now number 13,700 throughout Alberta, though not all are necessarily currently practising. That number is 34 per cent more than a decade ago and includes 6,363 family physicians, they say.<\/p>\n That $450 million is part of a $7.7 billion in upcoming provincial spending that mainly addresses physician compensation.<\/p>\n All of those doctors are badly needed because of increasingly complex needs, physicians tend to see fewer fewer patients, \u201cso now you\u2019ll need more physicians, it takes more than one physician to replace a retiring one,\u201d said Jajszczok.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n While primary care networks \u2014 where family doctors coordinate with medical specialists to improve and streamline care \u2014 are a reality in Alberta, it\u2019s an approach that needs to be employed more to better serve a larger population, said a U of C health care economist.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to think about team-based care, it\u2019s been very doctrinaire hospital-focused,\u201d said Dr. Braden Manns. \u201cA doctor who\u2019s looking after 1,500 patients could work for 3,000.\u201d<\/p>\n Another way to address understaffing magnified by population growth is the use of AI for triage and diagnoses in which patients input their symptoms for a quick, initial recommendation, he said.<\/p>\n Studies of the technology, now used in Ontario, shows it\u2019s accurate and safe, said Manns.<\/p>\n The province, he said, hasn\u2019t committed to long-term health care planning for the Calgary area and are therefore \u201cbuilding for current needs, not future needs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a comprehensive plan in what our needs will be in 10 years . . . they know how many family doctors, how many specialists they need, they know where the pain points are.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a time earlier this century when the province did just that, said Manns, but current planning \u201cis based on maintaining the current model of provision.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is \u2018how do we change our service model because we can\u2019t just build new hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n The UCP government said its Acute Care Action Plan is moving toward adding 1,100 acute care beds in Edmonton and Calgary, 400 of them at the South Calgary Health Campus.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n No timeline for those projects was given and emergency doc Sherman said it would mean \u201cwe would still be far behind where we need to be today, let alone five years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n That announcement of new beds made last November comes alongside a 50-year capital and long-term workforce strategy \u201cto ensure the system can meet current and future health care needs,\u201d Kyle Warner, spokesman for the Hospital and Surgical Health Services Ministry.<\/p>\n The province has earmarked $2 million to plan an expansion of the Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital that will add 40 acute care and 10 mental health beds, a 32 per cent increase in capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government has also invested $15 million in planning to build eight urgent care centres across the province to reduce wait times, improve outcomes, and ease pressure on hospitals, including a new urgent care centre in east Calgary,\u201d said Warner.<\/p>\n Said Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones: \u201cIt creates a foundation for sustainable, long-term change.\u201d<\/p>\n Filling growing nursing need<\/p>\n The demand for nurses is so great, Bow Valley College is turning to a virtual training simulator to ensure it\u2019s educating enough of them.<\/p>\n Enrolment for the college\u2019s nursing programs is up by 10 per cent over the previous year and that\u2019s only the start, said Dr. James Reddy Kakulavaram, the college dean of health sciences.<\/p>\n \u201cVery few programs have waiting lists so it indicates a high demand.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re working toward creating a health care centre of excellence that will grow the current full load equivalent students from the current 2,500 to 11,000 by 2035-2036, while tripling the number of annual graduates, he said.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n BVC\u2019s currently developing 14 new health care program areas on top of the six programs and eight courses offered now.<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing that population growth, we\u2019re moving towards that centre of excellence,\u201d said Kakulavaram.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a 13,000 nurse shortage in Alberta and if the current trend continues to 2033, we\u2019ll have a big deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to a provincial occupational outlook that forecasts a cumulative shortage of registered and registered psychiatric nurses for Alberta totalling 13,841 by 2033.<\/p>\n The college is also working to double its health care aid program while expanding instruction in recreational therapy and pharmacy technicians, he said, \u201cbut nursing is the centrepiece.\u201d<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a limit to the number of clinical spots for students\u2019 hands-on experience and that employing virtual simulators is filling 30 per cent of those hours, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s allowing our students to enter the workforce sooner and address health care needs,\u201d said Kakulavaram, whose BVC is the country\u2019s largest user of the technology.<\/p>\n Research shows one hour of simulation can replace two hours in clinic by eliminating the wait for busy physicians and individual cases be assigned by the technology, says BVC, which places 700 students in real-life settings each year.<\/p>\n Some of those studies include licensed practical and psychiatric nurses, the latter reflecting a huge demand in the specialty, said Kakulavaram.<\/p>\n Helping meet that demand means credentialling international nurses, he added.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a gap between getting a licence and getting employment and we can give them that Canadian way of a hospital setup,\u201d said Kakulavaram.<\/p>\n According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Alberta had the second-lowest rate of active nurses who were working full time in 2024 \u2014 44.1 per cent, which was 21.5 per cent below the national average.<\/p>\n The number of internationally educated nurses in Alberta rose from 8.6\u00a0 per cent in 2015 to 12.7 per cent in 2024.<\/p>\n In a nod to a ballooning demand, BVC on Feb. 20 announced the approval of the province\u2019s first psychiatric diploma program allowing experienced practical nurses to complete that specialty faster than before.<\/p>\n Prof. Joseph Osuji has also been watching the population growth of the city and province with concern.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are so much anticipating that, our strategy speaks to that . . . the population is increasing and that means increasing (patient) complexity,\u201d said Osuji, director of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University.<\/p>\n What he sees in local schools\u2019 ability to meet the demand for those positions doesn\u2019t fully instill confidence, he said, though strides have been made.<\/p>\n But Osuji said provincial funding that added 32 nursing seats a few years ago is coming to an end at a crucial time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe province has been supportive of our dream to train nurses and midwives but we would like more,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had an expansion but that\u2019s coming to an end and we\u2019re going back to our original number of 215 (registered nursing) seats.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n MRU, he said, can \u201ceasily\u201d train 400 to 500 nursing students a year.<\/p>\n That instruction includes expanding the roles of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses while also completing the qualifications of international midwives, he said.<\/p>\n The program would also like to expand its training of midwives, whose active ranks number fewer than 200 throughout the province, said Osuji, whose school now turns out 15 a year.<\/p>\n Cancer centre sees surging demand<\/p>\n Like anyone with a new cancer diagnosis, Calgarian Nanette Gretton was overwhelmed by the prospect of what might lay ahead.<\/p>\n Last December, she received the bad news she has breast cancer but that anxiety was tempered somewhat by knowing the still-new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre and its staff was her lifeline.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt lucky we have this in our city, I think of the people who have to travel here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s this beautiful place, you feel it\u2019s really top notch.\u201d<\/p>\n She said a biopsy procedure following her diagnosis went quickly and smoothly, creating the impression \u201cI\u2019m in a really good place.\u201d<\/p>\n But Gretton said a subsequent consultation there in late January seemed rushed and left a more troubling impression.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a whole lot of questions that weren\u2019t answered,\u201d said the 56-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess they\u2019re doing their best \u2014 maybe they just don\u2019t have enough staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Don Morris admits to being nervous about meeting the cancer needs of a Calgary of two million people.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The medical director of the Arthur J. E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre said patient demand since the facility opened in October 2024 came as somewhat of a surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve tried to stay on top of that but the migration to the Calgary catchment area was a bit of a shock,\u201d said Morris.<\/p>\n \u201cSome areas (of treatment) are tighter than others but it\u2019s a bit of a perfect storm . . . that population that require a hospital stay in initial treatment has caught us off guard and continues to increase.\u201d<\/p>\n When it was designed, he said the sparkling facility on the Foothills Medical Centre grounds was built for a projected 2040 capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was said at one time it\u2019s very over-built and we still have room to grow but does that 2040 now translate to 2031? Maybe.\u201d said Morris.<\/p>\n \u201cFor radiation medicine we still have some capacity and shell areas we could put in new machines but that would require capital dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, of the centre\u2019s initially-allotted 160 inpatient beds, 94 are currently funded for use and are already at 105 per cent capacity, he said.<\/p>\n To keep pace with growth would require adding 10 to 15 beds per year, said Morris.<\/p>\n Morris said he\u2019d like to see some treatment programs such as cardiac and head and neck cancer that are located at other hospitals in the city moved to the Arthur Child \u201cbut we don\u2019t have the resources at this point in time.\u201d<\/p>\n The centre also serves patients who live throughout southern Alberta, where there are regional clinics that do provide cancer care and increasing their capabilities can take current and future pressure off the Arthur Child, said Morris.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n For now, the centre is holding its own, he said, bolstered by the recruitment of 130 nurses in the past four months and 15 new oncologists in the last two years.<\/p>\n That, and improved triaging has led to a recent reduction in wait times at the Arthur Child, said Morris, but it\u2019s a constant struggle to hold the line.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re never fully there (on staffing) and if we hadn\u2019t been really aggressive with hires we wouldn\u2019t have this optimism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we put our heads in the sand, we would not be ready . . . it\u2019s a testament to the staff that we\u2019re weathering the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n One bright spot for future medical demand is that the incidence of cancer in the country has been falling annually \u2014 by 1.2 per cent for men and 0.4 per cent for women \u2014 since 2011, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.<\/p>\n Survivability has also improved with 64 per cent of cancer patients now living five-plus years after diagnosis compared to 25 per cent in the 1940s.<\/p>\n While that\u2019s welcome news, Morris said the latter statistic means more demand for his services.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s double-edged sword. People are living longer and better but they still have cancer and need to be continually seen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Looking ahead to serving a Calgary of two million people, Morris sums it up by saying he\u2019s \u201cconcerned given the number of new treatment strategies that involve some inpatient care in addition to the population growth.\u201d<\/p>\n New patient Gretton said her medical plan that will include surgery, radiation and hormone therapy puts in perspective for her the importance of ensuring a responsive, timely cancer program in a growing Calgary.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI worry about that, if it already takes as long was what I\u2019ve been seeing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s something more personal she hopes won\u2019t be lost at the Arthur Child in a larger city: the compassionate, thoughtful care she said she\u2019s received in most of her visits.<\/p>\n Physicians warn of strain amid health overhaul<\/p>\n Ensuring the needs of a two million-strong Calgary are met are daunting enough, says the head of a group representing physicians in the city.<\/p>\n The provincial government\u2019s dramatic health care reforms that include creating four new health ministries, allowing more medical responsibilities to non-physician players along with increasing privatization only adds to the uncertainty, said Dr. Catherine Macneil, president of the Calgary and Area Medical Staff Society.<\/p>\n \u201cI worry whether the restructuring is going to help the coordinated approach over different health care corridors,\u201d said Macneil.<\/p>\n \u201cI worry about undermining the medical home by using other people (like pharmacists), saying they can do the same things . . . it\u2019s the functioning in isolation that\u2019s worrisome. We don\u2019t know what (the reforms) are going to be \u2014 it\u2019s a risk trying to make all the providers equivalent.\u201d<\/p>\n She describes the medical home as a seamless collaboration between physicians and other care providers ranging from pharmacists, licensed practical nurses and dieticians.<\/p>\n Similarly, Macneil said opening up more of the medical system to private, for-profit surgical providers that\u2019s funded publicly won\u2019t meet the requirements of a fast-growing city given there\u2019s already a limited and stretched workforce. The province has also said it intends to allow physicians to practise simultaneously in the public and private systems.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottleneck isn\u2019t surgeons unwilling to do surgeries, it\u2019s the post-operative care and you can include (a higher) number of hip replacements but it reduces the number of anesthesiologists (in public settings),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t rob Peter to pay Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n The UCP government says contracting out more surgeries will reduce waiting lists in the public sphere while its spinning off four separate ministries from one and reducing the role of Alberta Health Services will make the system more responsive to patient needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve actually turned our hospitals into multi-purpose facilities and taken them away from their core job, which is to deal with emergencies and to efficiently make sure that people can get surgery and also do the convalescence there,\u201d Premier Danielle Smith said last May.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve tried it that way, all integrated. I think we need to try it a different way, because it clearly wasn\u2019t working.\u201d<\/p>\n Macneil, who\u2019s a pediatrician, said the key reducing future health care demand is ensuring the health and welfare of pregnant moms, babies and children.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a saying that \u2018the years before five last the rest of our lives,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While more can be done in preventative health, home care and a team approach, said Macneil, there\u2019s no way the city\u2019s demands can be met without an increase in infrastructure.<\/p>\n As for an ideal number of physicians for Calgary a decade from now, she said that calculation isn\u2019t easy to make.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if we have quite enough now \u2014 it\u2019s easy to say we\u2019ll need 25 per cent more doctors, maybe we do. I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Macneil.<\/p>\n And while increasing the number of physician training spots in universities is clearly vital, the payoff is much delayed, with that education lasting eight to 15 years, she said.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links NewsLocal News Acute care beds per 1,000 people has fallen from 2.05 in 2017 to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-513802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Foothills-Hospital1-Longform\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Foothills-Hospital1-Longform.jpg\")
The Foothills Hospital was photographed on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Photo by Gavin Young\/PostmediaArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Calgary](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-ch-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
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International physician Fahima Mustanzid was photographed at the Alberta International Medical Graduates Association (AIMGA) offices in Calgary on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. Photo by Gavin Young\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"30326-20230411DB033\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20230411db033_276968893.jpg\")
UCP Edmonton-Whitemud candidate Dr. Raj Sherman takes part in a press conference where Danielle Smith announced the UCP\u2019s public health guarantee, in Sherwood Park Tuesday April 11, 2023. Photo by David Bloom<\/p>\n![\"0304-population-pyramid](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0304-population-pyramid-copy.jpg\")
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Dr. Braden Manns is pictured with a model of a kidney at his office in Calgary, Alberta on September 27, 2012. Photo by Leah Hennel<\/p>\n![\"030326-2_Million_Bow_Valley_College\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2-million-bow-valley-college_301796068.jpg\")
Dr. James Reddy Kakulavaram, Associate Dean of Health Sciences at Bow Valley College, was photographed on Monday, March 2, 2026 in one of the hospital settings used to train nursing students at the downtown Calgary campus. Photo by Brent Calver\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"030326-2_Million_Bow_Valley_Nursing\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2-million-bow-valley-nursing_301796118.jpg\")
Nursing students learn in a simulated hospital environment with a high-tech dummy at Bow Valley College\u2019s downtown Calgary campus on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. Photo by Brent Calver\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"030326-2_Million_Cancer_Patient\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2-million-cancer-patient_301601340.jpg\")
Nanette Gretton, a patient of the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, was photographed in Calgary on Friday, February 20, 2026. Photo by Brent Calver\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"30326-Alberta_Cancer_Donation\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/alberta-cancer-donation_283400594.jpg\")
Dr. Don Morris, medical lead for the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, speaks at an event announcing a $5 million donation by ARC Resources to the Alberta Cancer Foundation\u2019s OWN.CANCER campaign at the centre in Calgary on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Photo by Brent Calver\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Countdown](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0000-countdown-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
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