10 rural Alberta communities lost ER service last month

At the beginning of January, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut services at hospitals in 18 communities in December, 17 of which lost their emergency department.

This is a continuation of similar closures throughout 2021, starting in May of that year. And it’s driven primarily by a lack of physicians in the communities.

I dug through all the news releases that AHS issued last month to find out if there were any closures in January, as well. Sure enough, there were. Here’s what I found.

Smoky Lake

The first closure was actually announced in December, when AHS declared on the 29th that they were shutting down the emergency department at the George McDougall Healthcare Centre in Smoky Lake.

Actually, it was a set of 3 closures. Each was to begin at 19:00 and last 13 hours. The first was scheduled to start on the 2nd, followed by 1 on each of the 2 subsequent days.

Almost 2 weeks later, on the 15th, AHS announced 4 more closures for this emergency department. Again, each closure was to begin at 19:00 and last 13 hours. The first was to begin that evening, with the other closures occuring on each of the following 3 days.

Just a week after that, they announced 4 more 13-hour closures, which were each scheduled to start at 19:00, with the first on the 29th, followed by one each on the next 3 subsequent days.

Finally, on the 29th, AHS announced another 13-hour closure, kicking off on the 27th at 19:00. The January portion of this closure was 31 hours in total.

That’s a combined 174 hours for the entire month of January.

Like so many others, these closures were a result of AHS not having staffed a sufficient number of physicians for this hospital.

Nursing staff were on site, however, to conduct triage and assessments. EMS was rerouted to health facilities in surrounding communities.

This isn’t the first time that Smoky Lake has lost its emergency department either. It was closed down for part of one day in each of April, August, and September 2022, as well as March, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2023.

Fairview

Another closure announced on the 29th of December was noted by AHS on their website when they said that the Fairview Health Complex would have no on-site physician coverage in the emergency department for two 24-hour periods.

The first closure was scheduled to begin at 07:00 on the 2nd, and the second was to start at 07:00 on the 5th.

Just five days later, on the 3rd, AHS reported that they’d be closing this emergency department again for an additional 48 hours, starting at 07:00 on the morning of the 4th. However, two days later they announced that they had found coverage for part of that closure, so the ER would be opening at 19:00 that evening.

Later that day, they announced another 24-hour closure, this time for the 8th. However, they announced on the day of the closure that they had found coverage for part of the shift, which means the closure would be for only 12 hours instead.

On the 10th, AHS announced yet another closure for this ER. It was scheduled to begin at 07:00 the following morning and lasting for 48 hours. Two days later, they announced that they found someone to cover the last 12 hours of the closure.

That’s a total of 156 hours without their ER last month.

In both cases, the closures were result of AHS’s being unable “to secure physician coverage”.

Nurses were in the emergency department, however providing triage, assessments, and referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in surrounding communities, as needed.

The Fairview ER was shut down several times in 2021, including in May, June, July, and November, as well as twice in January 2022, once this past October, and 3 times this past November and December.

Milk River

The first closure announced in January was on the 2nd, when AHS announced they were closing the emergency department at the Milk River Health Centre.

It was actually two closures. The first closure was to start at 17:00 that evening and last until 08:00 the following day. The second also began at 17:00 and lasted for 15 hours, but didn’t start until the 4th.

Less than a week later, on the 8th, AHS announced a second closure for this community. It’d begin at noon that day and run for 20 hours.

The very next day, they announced that they were extending this closure until 08:00 on the 10th; however, on the 10th, they said they were extending for another day. When the 11th arrived, they extended the closure yet again, until 17:00 on the 12th.

On the 18th, AHS announced two more closures. Both were to run from 17:00 until 08:00 the following morning. The first was to begin that evening, and the second was to begin the following evening.

Five days later, they announced another closure. This one had no specified startup, other than “effective immediately”, but it was to last until 08:00 the following morning. According to the HTML code in the release, the notice was published just after 6:00 that morning.

Two days later, on the 25th, they made another closure announcement for Milk River, but this time for two closures: one that day and the other the following day. Both closures were to last 15 hours, starting at 17:00.

Finally. AHS announced just two days from the end of the month that they’d be closing the emergency department twice more before month ended. The first was effective immediately, until 08:00 the next day, and then again starting 9 hours later, at 17:00 on the 30th, and lasting until 08:00 on the 31st.

It’s difficult to calculate the actual total number of hours this emergency department was closed, given that two announcements didn’t include a specific start time. We do know, however, that it was at least a combined 150 hours.

These closures were due to insufficient staffing levels of physicians.

Nursing staff were on site in both cases to provide care for long-term care residents, and EMS were redirected to Raymond or Lethbridge.

Milk River also lost their ER in February, May, September, October, and December of 2022, as well as January, February, May, July, August, September, October, November, and December of last year.

Coronation

Announced on the 3rd of January was the closure of the emergency department at the Coronation Hospital and Care Centre.

However, AHS’s announcement was technically for 3 closures:

Start	End	Length
4 January, 08:00	5 January, noon	28 hours
8 January, 08:00	9 January, 08:00	24 hours
11 January, 08:00	12 January, 08:00	24 hours

9 days later, on the 12th, AHS announced 5 more closures of the ER in Coronation.

Start	End	Length
15 January, 08:00	16 January, 08:00	24 hours
18 January, 08:00	19 January, noon	28 hours
22 January, 08:00	23 January, 08:00	24 hours
25 January, 08:00	26 January, noon	28 hours
29 January, 08:00	30 January, 08:00	24 hours

That’s a combined loss of 204 hours during the month of January.

These closures were due to AHS’s inability to have sufficient staffing levels of physicians, or as they called it: “gaps in physician coverage”.

Nursing staff were on hand for first aid and triage to other facilities in the region.

EMS were to be rerouted to hospitals in Castor (35 km), Hanna (90 km), and Stettler (95 km).

Coronation also lost their emergency department just last April, May, June, July, September, October, November, and December.

Lac La Biche

On the 5th, AHS said that they were closing down the emergency department at the Lac La Biche – William J. Cadzow Healthcare Centre.

The announcement was for two closures, actually. The first was scheduled to start at 16:00 on the 8th and last for 16 hours. The second was also to start at 16:00 on the 11th, but was set to last 40 hours.

However, three days later, they announced that they had found partial coverage—from 08:00 until 16:00 on the 12th—so, the second closure would end up being 32 hours instead.

That same day, on the 8th, they announced two more 16-hour closures, both beginning at 16:00. The first was scheduled for the 11th, and the second was scheduled for the 12th. However, on the 12th they announced that they found a physician to cover the closure schedule for the 12th.

A little over a week later, on the 16th, AHS posted 3 more closures on their website for Lac La Biche. All of them were scheduled to start at 16:00 and last for 16 hours each, with the first beginning the following day and the next two on each of the two subsequent days.

On the 25th, AHS announced another closure, which would start at 16:00 that evening and last for 16 hours.

Finally, on the last day of the month, AHS announced two more closures for Lac La Biche; however, most of the closure would affect February, with the January portion beginning at 16:00 that evening and lasting 8 hours, before extending into February.

Combined, Lac La Biche was without their emergency department for 136 hours in January.

Both closures were both a result of the AHS’s “inability to secure physician coverage”.

Nursing staff were on hand for triage and assessments during all closures, but those needing emergency care were referred to emergency departments in other communities in the region.

The community lost their emergency department three times back in June of 2022, once the subsequent August, and several times in 2023, including twice in both March and April, three times in May, twice in June, five times in both July and August, once in September, twice in October, four times in November, and seven times in December. In May 2022, Lac La Biche also lost “obstetrical and surgical services for an undetermined period”.

Spirit River

AHS announced on the 10th that they planned to close the emergency department at the Central Peace Health Complex in Spirit River overnight.

The closure would last 22.5 hours starting at 11:30 that morning, and continue until 10:00 the following morning.

This closure were a result of AHS not having enough physicians in Spirit River.

Nurses were, of course, on hand for triage and assessment purposes only.

Spirit River also lost its emergency department for 24 hours in August 2021, as well as closures in April, June, and December of 2022. It also lost its ER twice last August, once in September, and once in November.

Rocky Mountain House

On the 12th, AHS announced that the ER in Rocky Mountain House would be closed from 05:00 until 16:00 that day.

Like so many others, this closure were “due to gaps in physician coverage”.

The community lost their emergency department for brief periods in May 2021 and last June, July, August, and October, acute care beds in July 2021, and obstetric services in January 2022.

Bassano

Another closure was announced on the 12th, when AHS declared they they were closing the emergency department at the Bassano Health Centre. The closure was to begin at 17:00 that evening and last through the weekend, ending at 08:00 on Monday, January 15.

Bassano’s emergency department also saw closures last May August, September, and December.

Beaverlodge

AHS announced on the 29th that they’d be shutting down the emergency department at the Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital that evening.

The closure was to begin at 20:00 and last for 12 hours.

As with the closures highlighted above, these closures were a result of AHS’s inability to hire enough doctors. Nurses were on hand for triage and assessment. Anyone needing emergency services were to be rerouted to the hospital in Grande Prairie.

Beaverlodge’s emergency department saw closures in May, July, August, November, and December 2022, as well as January, March, May, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023.

Swan Hills

On the 11th of January, AHS announced that the emergency department at the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre would be closed for four 12 hours.

The closure would start at 19:00 that evening and end the following morning at 07:00.

This was a combined loss of 12 hours during the entire month.

The closures were because AHS hadn’t hired enough nurses for this hospital, leading to a “lack of available registered nursing staff and an inability to secure temporary coverage”.

EMS were to be rerouted to surrounding communities.

Swan Hills also lost ER service in January, February, May, July, and December of 2022, as well as June, August, and November of last year.

Sylvan Lake

On the 26th, AHS announced that they were closing the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service until 15:00 that day; although they didn’t indicate what time the closure began.

Keep in mind, that ambulatory care service is available at the Sylvan Lake Community Health Centre between 07:30 and 22:00 under normal circumstances. It is typically not a 24-hour service.

This closure were due to AHS not hiring enough physicians.

This isn’t the first time the community has lost ambulatory care; they lost it for 7 days in August 2021, over the Christmas holidays in 2021, as well as January, February, March, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2022, and January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December of last year.