14 hospitals in Alberta lost ER service last month

Last month, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut service at hospitals in 12 communities in July, 11 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 August, as well. Sure enough, there were. Here’s what I found.

Picture Butte

The first August closure actually came in July. On the 18th, AHS issued a closure notice for the Piyami Health Centre in Picture Butte. This was for the entire hospital and was due to a water clinic. It didn’t reopen until 13 August.

That means that it was closed for 12 days in August, or 288 hours, give or take, given that AHS didn’t say what time on the 13th that the hospital would resume regular operating hours.

This is the third time AHS has closed a department in this hospital since I began tracking Alberta hospital closures in May 2021. Their ambulatory clinic closed in June and July, too.

Fairview

The next closure announcement for August actually came towards the end of July, when AHS noted on their website that the Fairview Health Complex would have no on-site physician coverage in the emergency department twice over the next week.

The first closure was actually supposed to start on 29 July and last until the morning of 1 August, so the August portion of that closure was just 7 hours. The second closure was for 96 hours, beginning at 07:00 on the 3rd and ending at 07:00 on the 7th.

On the 6th, AHS reported that they’d be closing this emergency department the following day starting at 07:00 and lasting for 11 hours.

On the 9th, they announced two more closures.

Start	End	Hours
07:00, 12 August	07:00, 14 August	48 hours
07:00, 15 August	17:00, 19 August	96 hours
		144 hours

On the 23rd, AHS announced another closure. It was scheduled to start at 07:00 on the 26th and last 24 hours.

That’s a combined 282 hours without their ER last month.

In all 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; twice in January 2022; once last October, and 3 times last November and December; and 6 times this past February, twice in March, 4 times in April, twice in May, 10 times in June, and 9 times in July.

Smoky Lake

Fairview wasn’t the only community to find out in July that their emergency department would be closed in August. On 29 July, AHS declared that they were shutting down the emergency department at the George McDougall Healthcare Centre in Smoky Lake.

Technically, it was 7 closures, but only 5 of them would occur in August, for a combined 73 hours.

Start	End	Hours
midnight, 1 August	08:00, 1 August	8 hours
19:00, 1 August	08:00, 2 August	13 hours
19:00, 2 August	08:00, 3 August	13 hours
19:00, 3 August	08:00, 4 August	13 hours
19:00, 4 August	08:00, 5 August	13 hours
19:00, 8 August	08:00, 9 August	13 hours
		73 hours

Over 2 weeks later, on the 16th, AHS announced 5 more closures for this emergency department.

Start	End	Hours
19:00, 19 August	08:00, 20 August	13 hours
19:00, 20 August	08:00, 21 August	13 hours
19:00, 21 August	08:00, 22 August	13 hours
19:00, 22 August	08:00, 23 August	13 hours
		52 hours

On the 26th, AHS declared 4 more closures, which would take us almost to the end of the month.

Start	End	Hours
19:00, 26 August	08:00, 27 August	13 hours
19:00, 27 August	08:00, 28 August	13 hours
19:00, 28 August	08:00, 29 August	13 hours
19:00, 28 August	08:00, 30 August	13 hours
		52 hours

That’s a combined 177 hours for the entire month of August.

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 also closed in April, August, and September 2022; March, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2023; and this past January, February, March, April, May, June, and July.

Swan Hills

Another August emergency room closure announced in July was for the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre, which was posted on 31 July. The closure actually began that evening and that lasted until 07:00 on the 1st, making the August portion of the closure just 7 hours.

On the 20th, AHS published another closure on their website—well, 6 closures, actually. Each closure would begin at 19:00 and last for 12 hours, with the first starting on the 20th, and the others occurring on each of the subsequent 5 days.

Two days later, they announced two more overnight closures. Both were planned to begin at 19:00 and run for 12 hours, with the first starting on the 26th and the second starting on the 27th.

Finally, toward of the month, AHS announced one final closure for this emergency department in August. It was technically an announcement for three closures, but only two would occur in August. The first was 12 hours beginning at 19:00 on the 30th. The second was to begin at 19:00 on the 31st, but the August portion would last only until midnight.

This was a combined loss of 96 hours during the entire month.

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

Fort Macleod

The final closure announced in July was for the emergency department at the Fort Macleod Health Centre. The notice was published on 30 July, and the closure was to begin the next day. However, the August portion was just for 8 hours.

The closure was set to begin at 08:00 the following day, on the 16th, and last for 24 hours.

A week later, on the 7th, AHS announced another closure, this one for 13 hours, beginning at 08:00 on the 8th. They issued another closure just two days later, on the 9th, but it was to last for 9 hours, beginning at 08:00 on the 12th.

On the 14th, they announced that they were shutting down the emergency department again. The closure was to begin at 08:00 on the 15th and last 9 hours.

Finally, eight days later, on the 22nd, AHS notified the community that they were losing their emergency room once again, but this time for just 4 hours, starting at 13:00 on the 23rd.

These closures were due to AHS’s inability to hire enough doctors to keep staffing levels sufficient.

EMS were to be redirected to Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, and patients needing emergency care were instructed to go to Cardston, Lethbridge, or Pincher Creek.

Nurses were on site but only to provide care to long-term patients.

The emergency department in Fort Macleod was closed for a combined 26 hours in August

Fort Macleod was also without emergency department services in September and December 2023, as well as April, May, and July 2024.

Lac La Biche

The first closures announced in August were for the emergency department at the Lac La Biche – William J. Cadzow Healthcare Centre.

It was actually an announcement for 3 closures, the first of which was supposed to begin that evening.

Start	End	Hours
16:00, 1 August	08:00, 2 August	16 hours
16:00, 6 August	08:00, 7 August	16 hours
16:00, 9 August	08:00, 10 August	16 hours
		48 hours

On the 9th, AHS announced three more closures for Lac La Biche. Each was to begin at 16:00 and last for 16 hours. The first was to start on the 14th, followed by the 15th and the 22nd.

Over two weeks later, on the 26th, AHS closed this emergency department again. The announcement indicated 5 closures, but only 3 of them would occur in August.

Start	End	Hours
16:00, 26 August	08:00, 27 August	16 hours
22:00, 28 August	08:00, 29 August	10 hours
16:00, 30 August	08:00, 31 August	16 hours
		42 hours

Combined, Lac La Biche was without their emergency department for 138 hours in August.

All the closures were 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; 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. AHS also closed it 6 times this past January, 7 times this past February, 3 times this past April, and 12 times this past May. In May 2022, Lac La Biche also lost “obstetrical and surgical services for an undetermined period”.

Beaverlodge

Also on the 1st, AHS said that they’d be shutting down the emergency department at Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital between 20:00 that evening and 08:00 the next morning.

Less than a week later, on the 6th, AHS announced a second closure, this time for 24 hours. It was scheduled to start at 08:00 the following day.

These closures were a result of AHS’s inability to hire enough physicians.

Beaverlodge lost its emergency department for a total of 36 hours in August.

Beaverlodge’s emergency department saw closures last May, July, August, November, and December, too, as well as this past January, March, May, and June.

Hinton

AHS announced on the 2nd that they were closing the emergency department at the Hinton Health Centre at 17:00 the following day. The closure was set to last for 14 hours, ending at 07:00 the following morning.

That wasn’t the only closure, however. On the 22nd, AHS announced another closure, running from 15:00 on the 22nd until 07:00 on the 23rd. However, they announced later that day that they found someone to cover the closure.

The August portion of those closures came to a combined 14 hours.

EMS were scheduled to be rerouted to Jasper or Edson, if needed, during the closure.

This is only the third time AHS has closed this emergency department since I began tracking Alberta hospital closures in May 2021. The previous closures were in May and July.

Cold Lake

Also announced on the 2nd were two closures of the emergency department at the Cold Lake Healthcare Centre.

The first one was to begin at 23:00 on the 5th and last until 07:00 the following morning. The second was set to begin at 07:00 on the 9th and last until 15:00; however the day before this closure was set to start, they announced that they had found coverage for it.

That’s a combined loss of emergency department services for 8 hours in July.

These closures were because AHS was unable to hire a sufficient number of physicians to provide adequate coverage.

Nurses were on hand for assessment and triage services.

Cold Lake lost their emergency department in 2022: 16 times in January, 3 times in February, twice in March, twice in April, once in May, three times in June, four times in July, and twice each in September, October, November. and December. It was closed once in January 2023 and four times this past July.

Elk Point

On the 6th, Alberta Health Services announced another closure, this time for the emergency department at the Elk Point Healthcare Centre. Actually, it was for 3 closures.

Start	End	Duration
08:00, 7 August	08:00, 9 August	48 hours
08:00, 12 August	08:00, 13 August	24 hours
08:00, 16 August	17:00, 16 August	9 hours

As well, back at the end of May, AHS announced that they would be closing the emergency department for 24 hours, starting at 08:00 every Wednesday. The first of such closures in August was included in the closure between the 7th and 9th. That left 3 more regularly scheduled 24-hour closures: on the 14th, 21st, and 28th.

These closures were all a result of AHS having insufficient levels of physicians.

Combined, Elk Point lost its emergency department for 153 hours in August.

The community lost its emergency department several times in 2021, in June, July, August, September, October, and November, as well as August, September and October 2022; January and February of last year; and May and June of this year.

Rocky Mountain House

On 7 August, AHS announced a closure for the emergency department at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre. It was to start at 17:00 that night and last until 07:00 the following morning, for a total of 14 hours.

That brought to 14 the total hours that the community lost its emergency department in August.

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

The community lost their emergency department for brief periods in May 2021; June, July, August, and October 2023; and January, February, April, May, June, and July 2024. They also lost acute care beds in July 2021 and obstetric services in January 2022.

Boyle

AHS published an announcement on the 9th saying that they were closing the emergency department at the Boyle Healthcare Centre for 13 hours. The closure was scheduled to run from 20:00 that evening, lasting until 09:00 the following morning.

This closure was a result of AHS not hiring enough nurses.

Boyle’s emergency department was also closed in June 2021; April and June of 2022; August and December 2023; and May 2024.

Drayton Valley

Also on the 9th, Drayton Valley found out that they were losing their emergency department, when AHS announced they planned to close it for 24.5 hours. The closure started at 07:30 on the 12th and ended at 08:00 the following morning.

About a week and a half later, on the 20th, they announced a second closure, to begin at 22:00 that evening and last until 08:00 on the next day.

Nurses were to be on hand for triage and assessment purposes, but they were also available for emergency first aid, if needed.

EMS calls were rerouted to facilities in Devon, Leduc, Rimbey, and Stony Plain.

Drayton Valley was without their emergency department for a combined 34.5 hours in August.

AHS had closed this emergency department several times before, back in September 2022 and July 2023, as well as in April, May, June, and July 2024.

Coaldale

On the 14th, AHS announced they were closing the ambulatory clinic at the Coaldale Health Centre. The closure was to start at 17:30 that evening and run for 5 hours.

Four days later, they shut down the ambulatory clinic again. They didn’t say what time the closure began, only that it was closed on the 18th and wouldn’t reopen until 17:30 on the 19th, so it was at least 17.5 hours.

Once again, these were due to “a lack of physician coverage”, which is a polite way of saying that they’re not keeping adequate staffing levels.

This is the first time AHS has closed any department at this hospital since I began tracking Alberta hospital closures in May 2021.

Hardisty

On the 16th, AHS said they were closing the emergency department at the Hardisty Health Centre for several days.

The closure was to begin at 07:00 on the 19th and not end until 17:00 on the 23rd. That’s a total of 106 hours without an emergency department.

The cause was “a gap in physician coverage”.

Nursing staff were on hand for assessment and triage. They were also available for first aid, where needed, and were to refer patients to alternate care facilities in surrounding communities, including Killam, Wainwright (ironically), and Daysland.

Hardisty also lost their emergency department for several days this past November and December.