A group of Red Deer physicians has now formed a non-profit society as they continue their plight to secure a commitment from the province for a fully funded re-expansion of the Red Deer Regional Hospital.

5 founding board members have created the Society for Fair and Transparent Health Funding to Central Alberta, including General Surgeon Dr. Paul Hardy.

Hardy explains why they felt this society would help elevate their lobby efforts.

“We want a mechanism that is long term, sustainable and has representation from the community, not just physicians and not just Red Deer.  So a non-profit society we thought was the best way of carrying this message on until we get some development that we desperately need”.

It's been about a year since the group of Doctor’s brought their concerns to the public about lagging infrastructure at the Red Deer Regional Hospital, and Hardy says they need to keep pushing.

“I think when we started we were initially seen as maybe just disgruntled and that our message would fizzle out but clearly that’s not the case but we need help and we need sustainability for it.  We are continuously working on planning with Alberta Health Services and the government is hearing us, so we’ve been heard, but until they’re actually building we need to keep the pressure up”.

Hardy says they will be hosting a meeting in early March in hopes of recruiting more society members who can go out and help educate the public and government, watch their Facebook page for details.

In the meantime he says over capacity is a daily issue at the Red Deer Regional Hospital, long wait lists continue and people are still needing to travel to Edmonton and Calgary to get the care they should be able to receive here in central Alberta.