Surgeries are on the rise at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre as more central Alberta residents report being connected to a primary care provider.

Between April and December 2025, 982 surgeries were completed at the Rocky Mountain House hospital — an increase from 846, or 16 per cent, compared with the same period in 2024.

Those procedures included 623 gastrointestinal endoscopies, 225 knee surgeries and 134 classified as “other.”

The Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre performed 8,450 surgeries during the same period — the highest total of any hospital outside Calgary and Edmonton.

Across the province, 24,497 surgeries were performed in December 2025, up from 22,578 the same month in 2024. However, 63 per cent were done in the recommended time, unchanged from December 2024.

New provincial data also shows improvements in access to primary care across the region.

According to the Alberta government’s Health System Dashboard, 86 per cent of residents in the central zone were attached to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or pediatrician in 2024-25. That is above the provincial average of 83 per cent and up from 79 per cent in 2020-21.

Provincewide, 84 per cent of adult Albertans reported having a regular health-care provider in 2024, slightly above the national average of 83 per cent.

You can see the Alberta government’s new Health System Dashboard here.

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The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta reported 388 practising physicians in Red Deer in the fourth quarter of 2025, across all specialties — up from 360 at the end of 2024.

Kim Simmonds, CEO of Primary Care Alberta, said access to primary health care has improved since the agency launched one year ago.

“Our first year was about bringing teams together and building the foundation for stronger primary care across Alberta. Now we’re focused on practical improvements that make it easier for people to find care and navigate the system. Alberta Find a Provider is one important step in that work,” says Simmonds.

The province recently launched AlbertaFindAProvider.ca, a website listing clinics, family doctors and nurse practitioners accepting new patients.

As of publication, the Rocky Medical Clinic and Greenwood Family Physicians in Sundre were accepting new patients.