Alberta patient left in limbo after flood at Red Deer hospital

Arthur Rathjen is in limbo as he waits to have colon surgery at Red Deer Regional Hospital, which was hit witha massive flood March 1 that destroyed five of nine operating rooms.

Prior to the flood, the local pastor from Bentley, Alta.,had his surgery delayed from March 7 to March 28.

Now Rathjen and his family must wait longer.

"[We're] planning our lives around [the surgery] ... now we're just not sure what's going to happen," he told CBC News Tuesday."Just have to wait and see. It would be nice to have the surgery done."

But Rathjen isn't about to complain, and he knows what the priority is when it comes to surgery.

"If I have to be bumped because someone is dying then I don't mind that," Rathjen said. "I'd rather see them going for surgery before me."

Alberta Health Services agreespatient safety is the top concern.

"Generally speaking, our initial priority and focus is on ensuring that any emergent and urgent cases are being dealt with appropriately, so patient safety is the key driver for those determinations," said Kerry Bales, chief zone officer for AHS.

Bales said as of Tuesday 76surgeries have been delayed, and there is a possibility that other surgeries will have to be rescheduled in the weeks ahead.

Other towns will lend surgical support

Two towns south of Red Deer, Olds and Innisfail, which already lend surgical support to Red Deer Hospitalwill help out, Bales said.

If Red Deer is overloaded with surgeries, hospitals in Calgary and Edmonton could be called upon in the near future, Bales added.

General surgical procedures will be sent out to other sites.

"[We're] looking at a combination of possibly day surgeries and some short-stay surgeries overnight."

Red Deer Hospital will accommodate patients needing emergency or urgent procedures, Bales said. But elective surgeries will be rescheduled.

As well, the hospital is working to extend the hours of the operating rooms later into the night and during weekends. AHS is also looking at keeping the hospital open 24 hours a day.

The five destroyed operating rooms will be torn apart and rebuilt, starting this week. The other four operating rooms, with one dedicated to urology, remain open.

Bales says the rebuilt operating rooms could reopen in weeks.

"We're expecting that we would be able to have full function again at the site within four to six weeks," he said.

The flooding in the hospital was related to construction taking place on the second floor.

The total cost of the flood has not been determined yet.