311 new senior beds to open in Edmonton, Calgary

The province is opening 311new restorative beds in Edmonton and Calgary, designed to help seniors recover after a stay in hospital so they can eventuallyreturn home.

The beds will be split 186 forCalgary and 125 forEdmonton.

Liberal Leader David Swannsaid the new bedswill do little to relieve pressure in emergency rooms, sincethe backlogs are in the hospitals themselves.

Its a Band-Aid," he said. "Its only going to fill up with more people because were not developing the community supports that are needed.

The beds were oneof a three-part announcement by Health Minister StephenMandelWednesday morning.

The province is also putting $50 million towards renovating emergency departments at fivehospitals.

Those hospitals include the Peter Lougheed Centre and South Health Campus in Calgary; and the Misericordia, Grey Nuns, and Royal Alexandra hospitals in Edmonton.

The province also announced it will expand the role of paramedics, allowing medics to provide more frontline care in clinics and regional hospitals by collaborating with nurses and administering portable lab analysis.