Physicians now triaging patients in six Alberta emergency rooms, premier says

Physicians are now triaging patients in six Alberta emergency rooms, Premier Danielle Smith said on her provincewide radio show Saturday, Nov. 7. The government announced the program in January after Prashant Sreekumar, 44, died at Edmonton's Grey Nuns Community Hospital on Dec. 22, 2025, after waiting nearly eight hours to have chest pain assessed. Rollout was delayed while the province and the Alberta Medical Association settled operational details and physician contracts. Smith said patients who do not need admission should be treated and released quickly or sent elsewhere. A public inquiry into Sreekumar's death is scheduled to resume in December.