In October, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut service at hospitals in 15 communities in September, 14 of which lost their emergency department.
This is a continuation of similar closures starting in May 2021. 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 last month, as well. Sure enough, there were.
Here’s what I found.
Hinton
The first closure of the emergency department at the Hinton Health Centre was announced during the last week of September.
The 26 September announcement included 3 closures in September, as well as 6 closures in the first week of September. Here are the October closures.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 00:01, 1 October | 07:00, 1 October | 7 hours |
| 21:00, 1 October | 07:00, 2 October | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 2 October | 07:00, 3 October | 10 hours |
| 13:00, 3 October | 07:00, 4 October | 18 hours |
| 21:00, 4 October | 07:00, 5 October | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 5 October | 07:00, 6 October | 10 hours |
| 65 hours |
Technically, they said that it would “be without onsite physician coverage”, not that it would be explicitly closed.
A little over a week later, on the 6th, they announced another closure for this community. It was to start at 21:00 that night and end at 07:00 the following morning, lasting for 10 hours.
Three days after that, AHS said it was shutting down this emergency department 6 more times last month.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00, 11 October | 07:00, 12 October | 18 hours |
| 21:00, 13 October | 07:00, 14 October | 10 hours |
| 13:00, 14 October | 07:00, 15 October | 18 hours |
| 13:00, 15 October | 07:00, 16 October | 18 hours |
| 21:00, 16 October | 07:00, 17 October | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 18 October | 07:00, 19 October | 10 hours |
| 84 hours |
A few weeks later, on the 20th, AHS posted about 2 more emergency department closures in Hinton.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 21:00, 20 October | 07:00, 21 October | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 21 October | 07:00, 22 October | 10 hours |
| 20 hours |
The 15th closure of the month for this community was announced on the 27th. It began at 21:00 that night and lasted until 07:00 the following morning.
All of these closures were a result of AHS not having hired a sufficient number of physicians, or what they called “a clinical personnel shortage and an inability to secure temporary coverage”.
The community lost their emergency room for a combined 199 hours in October.
This emergency department also experienced closures in May, July, August, September, October, November, and December of last year, and January, April, May, June, July, August, and September of this year.
Hardisty
On the 29th of September, AHS said they were closing the emergency department at the Hardisty Health Centre.
The closure announcement provided no start time, but it was supposed to end at 07:00 on 1 October
Assuming that the closure began prior to the preceding midnight, then the October portion of this closure would have been 7 hours.
The cause was “a gap in physician coverage”.
Nursing staff were on hand for assessment and provide appropriate care. They also were to refer patients, where needed, to alternate care facilities in surrounding communities.
Hardisty also lost their emergency department in November and December 2023; August and December 2024; and June, July, and, of course, September 2025.
Redwater
The first October announcement came on the first day of the month, when AHS stated that the emergency department at the Redwater Health Centre would have no physician on site for 23 hours beginning at 09:00 that morning.
A second closure announcement for this emergency department occurred on the 10th. It was actually 2 closures, both of which would last 24 hours.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00, 14 October | 08:00, 15 October | 24 hours |
| 08:00, 169 October | 08:00, 17 October | 24 hours |
| 48 hours |
Redwater’s third closure was issued by AHS on the 17th. It began at 11:00 that morning and lasted for 6 hours.
AHS brought in a fourth closure on the 22nd. It started at 08:00 that morning and lasted for 24 hours.
Nurses were on site at the emergency department to triage and assess patients, as well as to refer them to facilities in other communities.
Every closure announcement included information on the province’s virtual emergency physician programme, which is being piloted in 7 communities, including this one.
Redwater’s only emergency department was closed for a combined 101 hours last month.
This was the 7th month since since I began tracking closures in May 2021 that this community has had its emergency department closed. The other times were this past January, April, May, June, August, and September.
Smoky Lake
Also on the 1st, AHS declared that they were shutting down the emergency department at the George McDougall Healthcare Centre in Smoky Lake 5 times during October.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00, 2 October | 08:00, 3 October | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 9 October | 08:00, 10 October | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 16 October | 08:00, 17 October | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 23 October | 08:00, 24 October | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 30 October | 08:00, 31 October | 16 hours |
| 80 hours |
That’s a combined 80 hours for the entire month of October.
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 triage and assess patients and to refer them to healthcare facilities in other communities, if needed.
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; January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, November, and December 2024; and January, April, May, June, July, August, and September 2025.
Milk River
The town of Milk River also received a closure notice on the 1st. The emergency department at the Milk River Health Centre was to be closed from 11:00 that morning until 19:00 that evening, lasting 8 hours.
The next day AHS said they were closing this emergency department again, beginning at 17:00 that evening and lasting for 24 hours..
Milk River lost their emergency room for a combined 8 hours in October.
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; in January, February, May, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2023; in January, June, and December 2024; and in August and September 2025.
Coronation
Another closure announcement made on the 1st of October came when AHS said that they planned to close the emergency department at the Coronation Hospital and Care Centre for the first weekend in October.
It started at 08:00 the next day and lasted until 08:00 on the 6th, for a combined 96 hours. However, on the 3rd, they extended that closure until 08:00 on the 10th, adding on an additional 96 hours.
Right before the closure extension expired, AHS announced on the 8th that this emergency department would be without on-site phsyicians 11 more times last month.
Yes. 11 more times.
| Start | End | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00, 9 October | 20:00, 9 October | 12 hours |
| 20:00, 9 October | 08:00, 10 October | 12 hours |
| 08:00, 14 October | 08:00, 16 October | 48 hours |
| 08:00, 16 October | 20:00, 16 October | 12 hours |
| 20:00, 16 October | 08:00, 18 October | 36 hours |
| 08:00, 18 October | 20:00, 18 October | 12 hours |
| 20:00, 18 October | 08:00, 19 October | 12 hours |
| 08:00, 19 October | 20:00, 19 October | 12 hours |
| 20:00, 19 October | 08:00, 20 October | 12 hours |
| 17:00, 31 October | 23:00, 31 October | 6 hours |
| 23:00, 31 October | 23:59, 31 October | 1 hour |
| 175 hours |
The next day, they added a couple more dates.
| Start | End | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00, 10 October | 08:00, 14 October | 96 hours |
| 00:02, 31 October | 08:00, 31 October | 8 hours |
| 104 hours |
On top of that, they said earlier this year that effective 5 February, they would close down this emergency department for 24 hours every Thursday for the foreseeable future, as well as every weekend. This has since been adjusted to between 08:00 on Tuesdays until 08:00 on Wednesdays, and again between 08:00 on Thursdays and 08:00 on Fridays. For October, that came to 152 hours, not counting the days in the week-long closure mentioned earlier.
When you add that to the others I listed, we get a combined total of 623 hours that this emergency department did not have physicians on site.
Nursing staff were on hand to assess patients and provide limited care.
On top of that, AHS announced on the 8th that they were expanding their virtual physician pilot programme (that I mentioned in the Redwater closures) to Coronation (as well as the community of Two Hills). The virtual emergency physician programme would be available for some of the 11 closures I listed previously, but only for non-life-threatening issues. At the end of the month, they announced they were extending it into November.
Coronation also lost their emergency department in April, May, June, July, September, October, November, and December 2022; January, February, March, October, and December 2024; and January, May, August, and September 2025.
Beaverlodge
On the 2nd, AHS said that they were shutting down the emergency department at Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital between 08:00 and 20:00 the following day, for a total of 12 hours.
A little over a week later, on the 10th, AHS announced a second closure for this emergency department, which was to last for another 12 hours, starting at 08:00 the following morning.
The same thing happened on the 17th, with the third 12-hour closure beginning at 08:00 on the 20th.
Like the others, these closures were all a result of AHS’s inability to hire enough physicians.
In October, this emergency department was closed for a combined 36 hours.
This was not the first time Beaverlodge’s emergency department saw closures either. It was closed in May, July, August, November, and December 2023; January, March, May, June, August, September, and October 2024; and June, July, August, and September 2025.
Fort Macleod
Also on the 2nd, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department in the Fort Macleod Health Centre for 12 hours that day, beginning at 07:00 and ending at 19:00.
During the closure, nurses were on site, but only to care for long-term care residents.
Fort Macleod was also without emergency department services in September and December 2023; April, May, July, August, October, and December 2024; and January, April, May, June, July, August, and September 2025.
Picture Butte
AHS issued a closure notice on the 3rd, this time for the Piyami Health Centre in Picture Butte. Except it wasn’t for the emergency department.
The announcement said that because of not having not hired enough physicians, the hospital would have to close its ambulatory clinic the following day, a Saturday.
Regular clinic hours on weekends are from 10:00 to 15:00. That means that this closure lasted for a combined 5 hours.
This happened again on the 17th, when AHS said that the ambulatory clinic would be closed on the 19th, which was a Sunday, cutting out another 5 hours of availability.
This is the 9th 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, July, October, and November of 2024; and in January, April, and August 2025. The entire hospital closed down in August 2024 due to a water main break.
Boyle
AHS published an announcement on the 7th saying that the emergency department at the Boyle Healthcare Centre would have no physician on site for 5 hours the following day, beginning at 08:00 and ending at 13:00.
Just 3 days later, they posted a second closure announcement. This 3-hour closure would start at 17:00 on the 13th and run until 20:00.
That was a combined closure of 8 hours last month for this emergency department.
Boyle’s emergency department was also closed in June 2021; April and June of 2022; August and December 2023; May, August, September, November, and December 2024; and May and June 2025.
The May 2025 closure was due to wildfire evacuation.
Edson
The next day, on the 8th, AHS posted a closure announcement for the community of Edson, which is about an hour east of Hinton.
The emergency department at the Edson Healthcare Centre would close the next day at 15:00 and end the following day at 08:00, for a total of 17 hours.
A week later, on the 15th, AHS announced a second closure, starting at 15:00 that afternoon and running for 17 hours, ending at 08:00 the following morning.
Every closure announcement included information on the province’s virtual emergency physician programme, which I mentioned earlier.
Edson was without its emergency department for 29 hours in total last month.
Edson also lost their emergency department in November 2024, as well as this past January, July, August, and September. AHS also closed the surgical suites in this hospital for 53 hours back in August 2021.
Bow Island
Since April 2025, the emergency department in the Bow Island Health Centre was open only on the weekend, closing from 07:00 each Monday until 07:00 each Friday.
As of 5 September, they had been open from 08:00 until 20:00 Monday through Thursday. Fridays, they opened at 07:00 and ran non-stop until Monday at 20:00.
However, on the 10th of October, they announced that the emergency department would be closed from every night for 12 hours, starting at 20:00 that night and ending at 08:00 on the 13th. That is a combined 36 hours.
As well, on the 10th, they introduced further changes to the September schedule.
Effective as of the 13th, the emergency department would have no physicians on site between 11:30 and 18:00 Monday through Thursday; although physicians would be on-call. That is a combined 78 hours with limited access to physicians in the emergency department during October.
The emergency department was still closed between 20:00 and 08:00 Mondays through Wednesday and 20:00 until 07:00 on Thursdays.
Toward the end of last month, on the 27th, AHS added that this emergency department would be closed as of 17:00 on the 31st and not open until 08:00 on 3 November. The October portion of that closure was 7 hours.
Toward the end of last month, on the 27th, AHS added that this emergency department would be closed until 17:00 on the 31st. They did not indicate when that closure was to begin, only that it was “effective immediately”. The meta tags in the announcements HTML code said it was published just after 16:00 on the 27th, which would indicate a closure of around 97 hours.
When you add it all up, that amounted to 422 hours in October when the emergency department was outright closed or available physicians were on call.
As well, in their announcement on the 27th, AHS indicated that “until further notice”, the emergency department would revert to the April changes: being closed from 08:00 on Mondays until 17:00 on Fridays. However, this would not apply until November.
Westlock
On the 14th, AHS announced a closure for Westlock Healthcare Centre that day. It was to begin at 17:00 that evening and run for 15 hours, ending at 08:00 the following morning.
Two days later, AHS posted another closure. This one would start at 08:00 the following morning, on the 17th, and end 9 hours later, at 17:00. However, partway through the closure, AHS said they found coverage for the rest of the closure. It is not clear when that coverage began, but the meta tags in the announcement say it was published just after 11:00 that morning, which means the closure was probably for only 3 hours or so.
But then AHS brings in another closure just 3 days later. Their announcement said it would start at 17:00 on the 20th and end at 08:00 on the 21st.
There were to be no physicians on site at any of the closures, but nurses would be there for triage and referrals to other medical facilities in the area.
Westlock’s only emergency department was closed for a combined 33 hours or so last month.
Every closure announcement included information on the province’s virtual emergency physician programme, which I mentioned earlier.
This was the fourth month AHS shut down this emergency department, having closed it in December 2024, as well as in January and August 2025. They also closed Westlock’s obstetrics department for 2 months back in 2021.
Barrhead
On the 14th, AHS published a closure for the emergency department at the Barrhead Healthcare Centre. It was a 10-hour closure, starting at 17:00 that evening and ending at 07:00 the following morning.
Nurses were on site for assessment, triage, and referral purposes.
The emergency department was closed for a combined 10 hours in October.
These closures, like the others, were because of the AHS not having enough physicians in the community.
Every closure announcement included information on the province’s virtual emergency physician programme, which I mentioned earlier.
Barrhead lost ER services in November and December of 2021; January, February, March, June, July, and August of 2022; October 2024; and April, August, and September 2025.
Sylvan Lake
On the 16th, AHS announced that they were closing the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service the next day.
It was to begin at 07:30 on the 17th and end at 15:00 that afternoon.
This closure was due to AHS not hiring enough physicians; although AHS called it “gaps in physician coverage”.
Keep in mind that advanced ambulatory care is regularly shut down every night from 22:00 until 07:30 the following morning. Not including the regularly scheduled overnight closures, Sylvan Lake lost its advanced ambulatory care for a combined 7.5 hours in October.
This is not the first time the community has lost ambulatory care; they lost it 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 2023; in January, Februrary, March, April, May, July, and December of 2024; and in April, August, and September 2025.
Two Hills
Since March 2024, the emergency department Two Hills Health Centre has had reduced hours.
It had been closed between 22:00 and 08:00 Mondays through Thursday, as well as each weekend, from 17:00 on Friday to 08:00 on Monday. This past August, AHS announced that the weekday closure would start 2 hours earlier every day.
Last month, AHS announced that they were temporarily adding Two Hills to their Virtual Emergency Physician programme, as I briefly mentioned earlier.
Even then, the emergency department is still open for just 12 hours Mondays through Thursdays and 9 hours on Fridays.
That means that this emergency department was closed for a combined 483 hours in October.
Ongoing closures
Keep in mind that these are just the closures announced in October (well, and a few in September).
It doesn’t include communities with extended closures, such as Grimshaw, where AHS closed their emergency department for 12 hours every night in November 2022 and still hasn’t changed it. That was a combined 372 hours in October.
As well, since September 2024, Elk Point has lost their emergency department for 25 hours starting at 07:00 every Wednesday. For October, that was 5 Wednesdays, for a combined 125 hours.
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