Alberta’s UCP government is asking Ottawa for immediate help to lessen pressure on the province’s health-care system, which is overburdened with COVID-19 patients.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver formally requested aid and an immediate meeting with federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair in a Tuesday letter. 

He asked for the federal government to provide aero-medical evacuation capability to relocate patients out of Alberta, and intensive care unit (ICU) registered nurses and respiratory therapists to assist in Alberta’s critical care response. 

“Federal assistance in these two areas has the potential to create significant relief to the health-care system,” McIver wrote.

Alberta’s ICU