Alberta New Democrat leader Rachel Notley has been accused of inventing a “time machine” after she called for a faster expansion of Red Deer Hospital..Notley said the expansion needed to happen “as quickly as possible” on Saturday night, although opponents were quick to mention her administration’s previous decisions regarding the medical facility..Her comments come following a proposed injection of $320.6 million into Central Alberta’s major hospital announced last Tuesday in the UCP budget..A $1.8 billion expansion was announced by former Alberta premier Jason Kenney in February 2022, promising an extra 170 patient beds, up to 540 in total along, with three new operating rooms by 2031..Notley added the long-awaited expansion had been “going on for far too long” amid years of frustration for patients. .However, her comments were met with ridicule on social media. .The Red Deer development was removed from Alberta’s priority list under the last NDP government, when Notley was premier..Devin Dreeshan, minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, was among those who criticized the NDP leader..“BREAKING: NDP invents ‘time machine’ to undo their cancellation of the Red Deer Regional Hospital from Alberta's priority list,” he wrote on Twitter..Saturday’s war of words came after a fiery exchange last week between the NDP and UCP during a debate on Alberta’s Budget 2023..Deputy Premier and Minister of Infrastructure Nathan Neudorf rallied back at the NDP’s Rod Loyola during the February 28th session after his party was accused of delaying the project..“This project is proceeding,” Neudorf told MLAs..“In fact, the RFP for design is out, and we expect it to be completed and returned by the end of March. At that point we can carry on with the design.”.“Unlike the NDP, we believe in planning first, so we’re going to do a good plan so we can do a good build so we can meet the needs of people in central Alberta and Red Deer, giving them the health care they need in a good-designed building, meeting the needs of all citizens within central Alberta.”.In response, Loyola said the government continued to delay the expansions “despite it being critical to the service of the central zone.”.Referring to comments made by Neudorf at a public information session in January, Loyola said: “The minister of Infrastructure insultingly said, quote, ‘there are complexities most of the general public doesn’t understand, and it’s difficult to explain to them because it’s tedious and very time consuming’.”.“Will this minister apologize for this arrogant comment and admit to the people of Red Deer their hospital was not a priority for this government over the last four years? If it was, construction would have started already.”.Neudorf replied: “It’s ironic hearing from the NDP, who removed the Red Deer hospital from the priority capital list, that it’s not a priority.”.“We have put it back there. In fact, what I did when I made those comments was — when I went to Red Deer to talk face to face to the citizens of central Alberta to answer their primary question: why does it take so long to build a hospital?”.“We’re trying to be very transparent. We had plans there. We had officials from my Department of Infrastructure, officials from the Department of Health, and we had AHS members all there to answer people’s questions and help explain: Why does it take so long?”.He added the NDP were making “promises that they can’t fulfil” regarding the expansion.
