The amount of time paramedics are spending waiting with patients in hospital emergency rooms has increased since last year.
In 2009, EMS staff members in Edmonton were waiting about an hour and ten minutes to pass off a patient. But Alberta Health Services now reports that number has increased to an hour and 22 minutes.
"By sitting in a waiting room with patients they are not able to provide the essential services that Albertans want and deserve," said Elisabeth Ballermann, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA).
Emergency room staff say they are concerned about where they will treat everyone.
"We are so backed up...when we see another ambulance come up we get upset," said Dr. Layton Burkart, a member of the Alberta Medical Association's Section of Emergency Medicine.
The union believes it's up to the provincial government to step in and resolve the issue. And the HSAA is now taking aim at the province's recent attempts to address the issue of ER wait times in Alberta.
"The provincial government cannot continue to operate our hospitals with ill-conceived, Band-Aid approaches to emergency health care."
But the health minister was on the defence today referring to previous announcements made by the province to open up more beds in Edmonton.
He says people should have faith that the government is doing what it can to make improvements.
"It will take a little bit of time and I think people should have hope that today the system is better than yesterday and the day before," said Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky.
Burkar just wants a solution to a problem he believes is up to the province to fix.
"It's not our job. It's our job to treat patients."
With files from Sean Amato
