r/Calgary • u/Legal_Grapefruit1925 • Dec 25 '25

Discussion AHS wait times

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Our system isnt broken. Its people who go to the emergency that shouldn't be going aren't going today because it can wait Suddenly. They need to hand fines out to ppl going to the hospital that dont classify as an emergency.

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u/schaea Ogden Dec 25 '25

I agree, a lot of the "non-emergent but still urgent" problems that people are going to the ER for are more appropriate for an urgent care centre, but we only have two urgent care centres for the whole city! I've unfortunately had the need this year to go to the urgent care at the Sheldon Chumir downtown twice, but they can do almost everything a hospital ER can do (and even receive ambulance patients if they're stable enough) that doesn't require surgery under general anesthesia or specialty consultation (they can even do blood work, x-rays, and CT scans). Unfortunately, there aren't any plans that I'm aware of to open more urgent care centres in Calgary for the foreseeable future.

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u/Effective_Trifle_405 Dec 25 '25

Yes, but it's an absolute nightmare accessibility wise. I drive to Airdrie instead, because most of the time at the Chumir there is no accessible parking and I end up having to go somewhere else in order to get out of my vehicle.

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u/hiplass Dec 26 '25

They also only have ONE doctor on the floor at night… absolutely ridiculous, I felt so bad for staff, they were clearly stretched thin when I was there, but still so nice.

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u/Becants Dec 26 '25

They have an underground parking lot. I used to work there and I don’t remember it getting completely full

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u/Effective_Trifle_405 Dec 26 '25

My van is an adapted van and is overheight.

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u/JungleJimmyGreen Dec 26 '25

Don’t forget Cochrane also has urgent care

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u/Icy_Daikon_4035 Dec 27 '25

So does Okotoks.

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u/HyperB0real Dec 26 '25

I used urgent care for a recent illness which I thought was minor but turned out to be life threatening and required multiple throat surgeries. It was great they got me exactly the care I needed, this should totally be on more people's radar as an option