7 Alberta Hospitals, 6 in Edmonton, Reinstate Mask Mandates

A health care professional prepares to enter a patient's room in a file photo. (Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images)

EDMONTON—Seven Alberta hospitals have moved to reinstate mask mandates, stating it is to “help prevent transmission of COVID-19,” with six of them in Edmonton and one in Red Deer, following a directive issued by Alberta Health Services (AHS) that local sites could decide independently to require masks.

As of Oct. 16, according to an AHS update, masking is required for Edmonton AHS staff, physicians, volunteers, contractors, and lab workers in patient-facing areas at the University of Alberta Hospital and neighbouring Stollery Children’s Hospital, the Misericordia Community Hospital, Grey Nuns Community Hospital, Alberta Hospital Edmonton—a psychiatric site—and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. The Royal Alexandra Hospital implemented a mask mandate on Oct. 13.

The Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC) also went to masking as of Oct. 16, which included the Central Alberta Cancer Centre located on the site. All the hospitals require masks in patient care areas, elevators, staircases, hallways, common areas, gift shops, and cafeterias where patient contact could be expected.

“Patients and visitors are not required to wear a mask in these areas, however masking is required for patients, designated support persons and visitors in the emergency departments and labour and delivery assessment/triage areas in those identified sites,” said AHS.

No Denial of Service

The agency also said, “No patient shall be denied services.”

AHS said when announcing the mask directive that if patients, family, support persons, or visitors “decline to mask, the health care team should work collaboratively with them to find the most appropriate and safest solution for the situation.”

Hospitals in Alberta have only been mask-free for approximately four months—it was June 19 when AHS announced it would drop masking requirements in all AHS facilities.

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AHS has maintained that the decision for sites to implement masking is supposed to be based on factors including “rate of hospitalizations, number of outbreaks, occupancy, test positivity, and situational context.”

As of Oct. 16, AHS stated, there were 12 units on “outbreak at Royal Alexandra Hospital, two units on outbreak at University of Alberta Hospital, five units on outbreak at Misericordia Community Hospital, two units on outbreak at Grey Nuns Community Hospital, three units on outbreak at Alberta Hospital Edmonton, and two units on outbreak at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.”

As of Oct. 16, there were three units at RDRHC on COVID-19 outbreak, AHS added.

Autonomy

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement to The Epoch Times on Oct. 11 that AHS has the autonomy to bring in mask mandates in acute care facilities, but says she is still committed to not bringing in “province-wide mask mandates.”

“I believe that if Albertans want to wear a mask, they should. AHS has announced their decision to implement a new masking protocol in AHS acute care facilities,” Ms. Smith said.

“We recognize that AHS currently has the autonomy to make this decision. It is my expectation that no Albertan will be denied access to health care.”

She added that her government appointed the Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel, which is headed by veteran politician Preston Manning, to review legislation and policy.

She said Mr. Manning will be providing recommendations to “improve government and the health care system’s response to public health emergencies in the future.”

“This report will be submitted to cabinet by November 15, 2023 and will help inform future changes,” said Ms. Smith.