The Jason Kenney government is making a $100 million investment in hospitals to improve surgical wait times.

Some low-risk surgeries will be moved out of the Foothills Hospital and offered in High River and Canmore, along with independent surgical facilities in Calgary.

AHS President and CEO. Dr. Verna Yiu, says there's another benefit.

"It will also mean more Albertans will be able to undergo surgeries in their own communities enabling these patients to be closer to their families, friends and other support systems as they begin their road to recovery," she says.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro says this plan should address utilizing the existing space in facilities across the province.

"A big part of this is making sure the more complex procedures are going to be done in the major urbans while the lower risk procedures can be done in a facility, especially the ones that are near a major urban (centre), you know those smaller communities that are along the Highway 2 corridor between Edmonton and Calgary," he says.

There's no word on which types of surgeries would be done at the High River Hospital.

The money should help AHS add over 17,000 surgeries this fiscal year to meet the four-year target that was set.

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