No Need of an Airdrie Hospital?

I have learned from a reliable source that Alberta Health Services and the provincial government have not yet even identified any need for a new hospital in Airdrie!

They have identified the need to expand the Airdrie Regional Community Health Centre!  Expansion of the Health Centre is a great start, but what about the desperately needed hospital?

In light of the current economic conditions and the state of the province's coffers, I didn't expect to see them digging a hole and putting in the foundation for the new hospital.  But I did expect there to be something in the preliminary planning stages.  I might have even thought that the province and the city would have scouted out a good spot for a hospital, and maybe even started the process to acquire the land.

Hospitals are expensive to build and operate.  I don't expect to see one built in Airdrie in the near future.  Now it appears the new Airdrie hospital has moved into never-never land!

Here we have a fast growing city with around 50,000 inhabitants, without a hospital - or even future plans for a hospital!  Somebody has dropped the ball, here.