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The principle of triage is one of the cardinal rules of emergency medicine. Medical staff faced with multiple patients assess the urgency of the wounds and illnesses in front of them to decide who needs help immediately and who can afford to wait.

Trouble breathing? That’s a surefire way to the top of the list. Injured ankle? Yes it hurts, but you can expect to log some time in the waiting room.

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It is useful to consider the triage process when thinking about the state of Edmonton’s health-care facilities. The city has two hospitals — the Royal Alexandra Hospital in central Edmonton and the Misericordia Community Hospital in the west end — that belong at the front of the queue by almost every measure imaginable.

Both facilities, built in the 1960s, are in critical condition. Each have multiple, well-documented infrastructure problems accumulated over years of neglect. An Alberta Health Services assessment in 2015 identified a massive overhaul of the Royal Alex as its No. 1 infrastructure priority in the province, with the Misericordia coming immediately behind it at No. 2.