11 rural Alberta hospitals lost ER service in July 2024

Back in July, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut service at hospitals in 16 communities in June, 14 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 July, as well. Sure enough, there were. Here’s what I found.

Hinton

The first hospital closure announced for July actually was published on 24 June, when AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Hinton Health Centre 4 times, most of which would occur in June. The final closure was to include the first 7 hours of July.

That wasn’t the only closure, however. Just 3 days into July, AHS announced 10 emergency department closures for a combined 152 hours.

Start	End	Hours
23:00, 3 July	7:00, 4 July	8 hours
23:00, 5 July	7:00, 6 July	8 hours
07:00, 7 July	7:00, 8 July	24 hours
23:00, 8 July	7:00, 9 July	8 hours
15:00, 9 July	7:00, 10 July	16 hours
15:00, 10 July	7:00, 11 July	16 hours
15:00, 11 July	7:00, 12 July	16 hours
23:00, 13 July	7:00, 14 July	8 hours
15:00, 14 July	7:00, 16 July	40 hours
23:00, 16 July	7:00, 17 July	8 hours
		159 hours

The July portion of those closures came to a combined 159 hours.

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

This is only the second time AHS has closed this emergency department since I began tracking Alberta hospital closures in May 2021. The previous closure was in May.

Swan Hills

The second hospital closure announced for July also was published on 26 June, when AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre 5 times. Like the first Hinton closure, most of these would occur in June. The final closure was to include the first 7 hours of July.

A little over a week later, AHS published another closure on their website—well, 3 closures, actually. Each closure would begin at 19:00 and last for 12 hours, with the first starting on the 5th, and the other two beginning on the 6th and 7th.

AHS announced another closure on the 8th. It was planned to begin at 19:00 that evening and run for 12 hours, until 07:00 the following morning.

Two days later, they reported another 12-hour closure: from 19:00 on the 10th until 07:00 on the 11th.

On the last day of the month, AHS announced one final closure for this emergency department. It was to begin at 19:00 that evening and last until 07:00 the following morning, but the July portion of the closure was 5 hours.

This was a combined loss of 72 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.

Drayton Valley

On 28 June, 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 actually started on the 30th, so the July portion was only 8 hours.

Nearly a month later, on the 22nd, they announced a second closure, to begin at 21:30 on the 22nd and last until 08:00 on the 23rd.

Finally, on the 30th, AHS issued a final closure notice for Drayton Valley’s emergency department, running for 8.5 hours, starting at 23:30 on the 30th.

These closures, like so many others over the past three years, was because of insufficient physician coverage.

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 27 hours in July.

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

Smoky Lake

On 3 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 for a combined 91 hours

Start	End	Hours
19:00, 2 July	08:00, 3 July	13 hours
19:00, 3 July	08:00, 4 July	13 hours
19:00, 4 July	08:00, 5 July	13 hours
19:00, 8 July	08:00, 9 July	13 hours
19:00, 9 July	08:00, 10 July	13 hours
19:00, 10 July	08:00, 11 July	13 hours
19:00, 11 July	08:00, 12 July	13 hours
		91 hours

Nearly 2 weeks later, on the 15th, AHS announced 8 more closures for this emergency department.

Start	End	Hours
19:00, 15 July	08:00, 16 July	13 hours
19:00, 16 July	08:00, 17 July	13 hours
19:00, 17 July	08:00, 18 July	13 hours
19:00, 18 July	08:00, 19 July	13 hours
19:00, 22 July	08:00, 23 July	13 hours
19:00, 23 July	08:00, 24 July	13 hours
19:00, 24 July	08:00, 25 July	13 hours
19:00, 25 July	08:00, 26 July	13 hours
		104 hours

On the 29th, AHS declared 7 more closures. Most of them would actually occur in August, but here are the ones for July.

Start	End	Hours
19:00, 29 July	08:00, 30 July	13 hours
19:00, 30 July	08:00, 31 July	13 hours
19:00, 31 July	23:59, 31 July	5 hours
		31 hours

That’s a combined 226 hours for the entire month of July.

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, and June.

Sylvan Lake

Also on the 3rd, AHS announced that they were closing the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service. The closure was to begin at 07:30 on the 5th then end 8.5 hours later, at 15:00

On the 12th, AHS announced they were shutting down advanced ambulatory care again. This time, it was set to run from 14:00 on the 15th until 22:00 that same day.

Less than a week later, on the 18th, they announced another closure. Each one was to begin at 07:30 and end at 15:00 that day.

These closures were all due to AHS not hiring enough physicians; although AHS called it “gaps in physician coverage”.

AHS closed down advanced ambulatory care in this community for a combined 24 hours last month; although that may vary slightly, given that we don’t know the exact time the closure on the 24th took effect.

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

This marks 29 months in a row that Sylvan Lake has lost ambulatory care service, not including the regularly scheduled overnight closures

Rocky Mountain House

The 3rd of July was a busy day for AHS, as they announced yet another closure, this time for the emergency department at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre. It was to start at 18:00 that night and last until 07:00 the following morning, for a total of 13 hours.

Less than a week later, on the 8th, AHS announced second closure. It was to begin at 22:00 that evening and run for 9 hours.

On the 15th, AHS issued another closure notice for Rocky Mountain House, which was “effective immediately” and scheduled to last until 07:00 the following morning. The notice was written just after 07:00 on the 15th, so the closure was likely close to 24 hours.

That brought to 46 the total hours that the community lost its emergency department in July.

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, and June 2024. They also lost acute care beds in July 2021 and obstetric services in January 2022.

Picture Butte

Speaking of 3 July, AHS issued a closure notice for the Piyami Health Centre in Picture Butte. This was for they ambulatory clinic, though, not the emergency department.

They didn’t say how long the ambulatory clinic would be closed for only that it was for “tonight” and that it would open at 17:00 the following day. Normal operating hours are 17:00 to 22:00, so presumably, the closure was for 5 hours.

A little over two weeks later, on the 18th, AHS closed the entire hospital because of a water leak. It didn’t reopen until the 29th at 17:00.

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

Stettler

AHS announced on 10 July that they were closing the emergency department at the Stettler Hospital and Care Centre.

They didn’t indicate what time the closure would take effect; although, the announcement was published on their website just before 07:00 that morning. It was supposed to last until 08:00 the following morning.

Nearly two weeks later, on the 23rd, AHS announced three more closures for this emergency department.

Start	End	Hours
17:00, 24 July	08:00, 25 July	15 hours
17:00, 25 July	08:00, 26 July	15 hours
08:00, 29 July	17:00, 29 July	9 hours
		39 hours

Unsurprisingly, these closures was because of “unexpected gaps in staffing coverage”.

Nursing staff were on site for assessments and triage, and EMS were redirected to facilities in Lacombe, Red Deer, and Drumheller.

That’s a combined 64 hours that the community was without its emergency department in June; although that could also vary given that the first closure announcement had no start time listed.

Stettler had a 24-hour closure in May, June, and August of 2021, as well as a daytime closure in September 2022 and closures in April and December of 2023.

Fairview

On 4 July, AHS noted on their website that the Fairview Health Complex would have no on-site physician coverage in the emergency department for 24 hours, starting at 07:00 on 5 July.

Just 3 days later, on the 7th, AHS reported that they’d be closing this emergency department twice more. Each closure would start at 07:00 and last for 24 hours. The first closure was to begin on the 8th and the second was to begin on the 11th.

On the 12th, they announced two more 24-hour closures, both of which were to begin at 07:00. The first was to begin on the 15th and the second on the 18th. However, the day before the second closure was to begin, AHS announced they had found someone to cover that shift.

A week following that, AHS announced 2 additional closures.

Start	End	Hours
07:00, 22 July	07:00, 24 June	48 hours
07:00, 26 July	17:00, 27 June	24 hours
		72 hours

After another week had passed, AHS announced 2 more closures, most of which would occur in August. For the July portion, however, it was set to start at 07:00 on the 29th and last until the midnight between the 31st and the 1st, lasting for a total of 65 hours.

That’s a combined 233 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, and 10 times in June.

Cold Lake

AHS announced a closure in a 5th community on 9 July, when they said that they’d be shutting down the emergency department overnight at the Cold Lake Healthcare Centre.

It was actually two closures, both of which would be for 8 hours and run from 23:00 until 07:00 the following morning. The first one was to begin that evening, and the second was set to begin on the 15th.

Just two days later, on the 11th, AHS said that they had planned two more 8-hour closures, both of which were to run from 23:00 until 07:00 the following morning. The first was to start on the 11th and the second on the 15th.

That’s a combined loss of emergency department services for 32 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 also was closed once in January 2023.

Fort Macleod

On the 15th, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Fort Macleod Health Centre.

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

9 days later, on the 24th, AHS announced another closure, this one for 12 hours, beginning at 08:00 on the 25th. They issued another closure the following week, on the 30th, but it was to last for 24 hours, 8 of which were on 1 August.

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 52 hours in July

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

Spirit River

AHS announced on the 17th that they planned to close the emergency department at the Central Peace Health Complex in Spirit River overnight.

The closure would last 24 hours starting at 08:00 that morning, and continue until 08:00 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 during closures in April, June, and December of 2022. It also lost its ER twice in August, once in September, and once in November of 2023. Finally, AHS closed the ER this past January, too.

Keep in mind that these are just the closures announced in July. It doesn’t include communities with extended closures, such as Grimshaw, where AHS closed their emergency department in November 2022 and still hasn’t reopened it.

Or Coronation, which has had its emergency department closed for a 24-hour period and a 28-hour period every week since March.

Nor does it include Lethbridge, which is dealing with reduced physician staffing levels this summer, teetering on the edge of closures.