In August, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut service at hospitals in 17 communities in June, all 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
AHS actually announced the first August closure in July: for the emergency department at the Hinton Health Centre. The 28 July announcement included 4 closures over the first week of last month, as well as some closures in the last week of July. Here are the August closures.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| midnight, 1 August | 07:00, 1 August | 7 hours |
| 21:00, 1 August | 07:00, 2 August | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 3 August | 07:00, 4 August | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 4 August | 07:00, 5 August | 10 hours |
| 37 hours |
Technically, they said that it would “be without onsite physician coverage”, not that it would be explicitly closed.
The following week, on the 5th, they announced another 5 closures for this community.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 21:00, 5 August | 07:00, 6 August | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 6 August | 07:00, 7 August | 10 hours |
| 13:00, 7 August | 07:00, 8 August | 18 hours |
| 21:00, 9 August | 07:00, 10 August | 10 hours |
| 13:00, 10 August | 07:00, 11 August | 18 hours |
| 66 hours |
Less than a week later, on the 11th, AHS posted about 5 more emergency department closures in Hinton.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00, 11 August | 07:00, 12 August | 18 hours |
| 13:00, 12 August | 07:00, 13 August | 18 hours |
| 13:00, 13 August | 07:00, 14 August | 18 hours |
13:00, 14 August | 07:00, 15 August | 18 hours |
| 21:00, 16 August | 07:00, 17 August | 10 hours |
| 82 hours |
7 more closures of the month for this community were announced on the 18th.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00, 18 August | 07:00, 19 August | 18 hours |
| 13:00, 19 August | 07:00, 20 August | 18 hours |
| 13:00, 20 August | 07:00, 21 August | 18 hours |
| 13:00, 21 August | 07:00, 22 August | 18 hours |
| 21:00, 22 August | 07:00, 23 August | 10 hours |
| 21:00, 23 August | 07:00, 24 August | 10 hours |
| 19:00, 24 August | 07:00, 25 August | 12 hours |
| 56 hours |
The next closures of the month for this community were announced on the 25th.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00, 25 August | 07:00, 26 August | 18 hours |
| 16:00, 26 August | 07:00, 27 August | 15 hours |
| 13:00, 27 August | 07:00, 28 August | 18 hours |
| 16:00, 28 August | 23:59, 29 August | 15 hours |
| 66 hours |
But just when Hinton residents thought they were done with the closures for the month, AHS announces one final one on the 29th. Technically, it was 8 closures, but 7 of them were to occur in September. The final closure of August for Hinton was from 21:00 on the 29th until 07:00 on the 30th, another 10 hours.
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 365 hours in August.
This emergency department also experienced closures in May, July, August, September, October, November, and December of last year, and January, April, May, June, and July of this year.
Coronation
Another closure announcement made at the end of July came when AHS on the 29th that they planned to close the emergency department at the Coronation Hospital and Care Centre twice in August.
| Start | End | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00, 8 August | noon, 8 August | 4 hours |
| 08:00, 2 August | noon, 22 August | 4 hours |
| 8 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 Thursdays until 08:00 on Fridays, and again between noon on Fridays and 08:00 on Saturdays. For August, that came to 196 hours.
When you add that to the two separate closures, we get a combined total of 204 hours.
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 to assess patients and provide limited care.
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 and May 2025.
Edson
An hour east of Hinton, the community of Edson also received their first August closure announcement in July. On the 31st, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Edson Healthcare Centre overnight.
The August portion of the closure would last 8 hours, beginning at midnight that evening and finishing at 08:00 in the morning of 1 August.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 13:00, 7 July | 08:00, 11 July | 19 hours |
| 13:00, 11 July | 08:00, 12 July | 19 hours |
| 38 hours |
AHS announced another for this community nearly a week later. This time it was to begin at 15:00 on the 6th, lasting 17 hours, and finishing up at 08:00 on the 7th.
On the 12th, AHS announced 2 more closures for this community.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 22:00, 12 August | 08:00, 31 August | 10 hours |
| 15:00, 13 August | 08:00, 14 August | 15 hours |
| 25 hours |
AHS announced another closure for this community on the 21st. It was set to begin at 15:00 that afternoon and last 17 hours, until 08:00 the following morning.
Edson was without its emergency department for 97 hours in total last month.
Edson also lost their emergency department in November 2024, this past January, and in July. AHS also closed the surgical suites in this hospital for 53 hours back in August 2021.
Bow Island
At the end of July, updated their website to indicate that the emergency department at the Bow Island Health Centre would be closed that weekend, which was the first weekend of August. This was a total of 72 hours
In addition, at the end of April 2025, AHS announced that they were opening the emergency department in the Bow Island Health Centre only on the weekend, closing from 07:00 each Monday until 07:00 each Friday. That amounted to an additional 391 hours in August.
Combined, Bow Island was without an emergency department for 463 hours last month.
St. Paul
The first closure announcement actually issued in August was for the emergency room in the St. Therese-St. Paul Healthcare Centre, located in St. Paul.
The 1 August announcement included 2 closures.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00, 1 August | 07:00, 2 August | 15 hours |
| 07:00, 5 August | 14:00, 5 August | 7 hours |
| 22 hours |
About a week and a half later, on the 12th, AHS said they planned to close down this emergency department again. The closure was to start at 07:00 the following day and end at 14:00, 7 hours later.
All of these closures were a result of AHS not having enough “clinical personnel” on staff, which resulted in no “onsite physician coverage”.
That was a combined 29 hours that St. Paul lost their emergency department last month.
This was the first closure this emergency department has experienced since I began tracking closures in May 2021. However, this hospital lost surgical services in May and December of 2021 due to AHS not having hired enough anesthesiologists.
Picture Butte
AHS issued another closure notice on the 1st, 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 is the 7th 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 and April 2025. The entire hospital closed down in August 2024 due to a water main break.
Barrhead
On the 5th, AHS published a closure for the emergency department at the Barrhead Healthcare Centre. It was to begin at 17:00 that evening and last for 14 hours, finishing up at 07:00 the following morning.
Nurses were on site for assessment, triage, and referral purposes.
Nearly 2 weeks later, on the 15th, they announced another loss of physician coverage for this emergency department. Three of them, actually.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 07:00, 18 August | 17:00, 18 August | 10 hours |
| midnight, 19 August | 07:00, 19 August | 7 hours |
| 07:00, 20 August | 17:00, 20 August | 10 hours |
| 27 hours |
However, 2 days later, AHS reported that they found coverage for the second closure and the first 5 hours of the final closure, while a second announcement said they found coverage for the rest of the final closure, bringing the total of that set of closures to 10 hours.
This was followed by another loss in service announced on the 22nd. The 24-hour restriction in service began at 08:00 on the 25th.
The emergency department was closed for a combined 52 hours in August.
These closures, like the others, were because of the AHS not having enough physicians in the community.
Also, on the 20th, AHS announced that they were expanding their virtual emergency physician programme to include Barrhead. The programme facilitates clinical staff connecting with an AHS physician by telephone or videoconference for emergency patients with non-life threatening issues. This physician can collaborate with local healthcare workers, speak with patients, order tests and medications, and transfer or discharge patients. The programme was being piloted in Beaverlodge, Elk Point, Hinton, and Lac La Biche.
Barrhead lost ER services in November and December of 2021; January, February, March, June, July, and August of 2022; October 2024; and April 2025.
Smoky Lake
On the 6th, AHS declared that they were shutting down the emergency department at the George McDougall Healthcare Centre in Smoky Lake 5 times during August.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00, 7 August | 08:00, 8 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 14 August | 08:00, 15 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 21 August | 08:00, 22 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 28 August | 08:00, 29 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 29 August | 23:59, 31 August* | 56 hours |
| 120 hours |
Just 4 days later, however, they announced another closure. The closure was to end at 08:00 on the 11th, but there was no announced starting time. However, the HTML code of the announcement page indicated that it was posted just after 05:00 on the morning of the 10th. Assuming this reflects the start time of the closure, this would add an additional 26 hours that this community lost their emergency department.
On the 27th, AHS posted an update, saying they found coverage for the closure that was supposed to begin on the 29th.
That’s a combined (but estimated) 90 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 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, and July 2025.
Redwater
Also on the 6th, AHS stated that the emergency department at the Redwater Health Centre would have no physician on site for 24 hours beginning at 08:00 the following morning.
Nearly 2 weeks later, on the 19th, AHS announced that this emergency department would have no physician on site for 48 hours beginning at 08:00 the following morning.
A week later, on the 26th, AHS reported that they were shutting down this emergency department for 24 hours, starting at 08:00 the following morning.
Nurses were on site at the emergency department to triage and assess patients, as well as to refer them to facilities in other communities.
The community lost their emergency department for a combined 96 hours last month.
This was the fifth 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, and June.
Also, on the 20th, AHS announced that they were expanding their virtual emergency physician programme to include Redwater. The programme facilitates clinical staff connecting with an AHS physician by telephone or videoconference for emergency patients with non-life threatening issues. This physician can collaborate with local healthcare workers, speak with patients, order tests and medications, and transfer or discharge patients. The programme was being piloted in Beaverlodge, Elk Point, Hinton, and Lac La Biche.
Milk River
The town of Milk River also received a closure notice on the 16th. , The emergency department at the Milk River Health Centre was to be closed from 19:30 that evening until 08:00 the following morning, last 12.5 hours.
However, the next day AHS said they were extending the closure until 17:00 on the 8th; although they found partial coverage until 17:00 on the 7th, bring the total length of these two changes to 15 hours.
Milk River lost their emergency room for a combined 27.5 hours in August.
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; and January, June, and December 2024.
Beaverlodge
On the 11th, AHS said that they’d be shutting down the emergency department at Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital between 21:00 that night and 06:00 the following day, for a total of 9 hours.
Like the others, these closure were a result of AHS’s inability to hire enough physicians.
Beaverlodge’s emergency department saw closures in May, July, August, November, and December 2023; January, March, May, June, August, September, and October 2024; and June and July 2025.
Westlock
11 August was a busy day. AHS also announced a closure for Westlock Healthcare Centre that day. It was actually two closures.
| Start | End | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 17:00, 12 August | 08:00 13 August | 15 hours |
| 20:00, 16 August | 08:00, 17 August | 12 hours |
| 27 hours |
There were to be no physicians on site, but nurses would be there for triage and referrals to other medical facilities in the area.
This was the third time AHS shut down this emergency department, having closed it in December 2024 and January 2025. They also closed their obstetrics department for 2 months back in 2021.
Also, on the 20th, AHS announced that they were expanding their virtual emergency physician programme to include Westlock. The programme facilitates clinical staff connecting with an AHS physician by telephone or videoconference for emergency patients with non-life threatening issues. This physician can collaborate with local healthcare workers, speak with patients, order tests and medications, and transfer or discharge patients. The programme was being piloted in Beaverlodge, Elk Point, Hinton, and Lac La Biche.
Lac La Biche
Lac La Biche was next on the list. AHS announced on the 13th that they were shutting down the the emergency department at the William J. Cadzow – Lac La Biche Healthcare Centre.
It was an announcement for 6 closures, actually.
| Start | End | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00, 15 August | 08:00, 16 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 19 August | 08:00, 20 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 25 August | 08:00, 26 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 26 August | 08:00, 27 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 28 August | 08:00, 29 August | 16 hours |
| 16:00, 29 August | 08:00, 30 August | 16 hours |
| 96 hours |
However, on the 26th, AHS announced that they found coverage for the last 3 closures, bringing the final tally to 48 hours.
Nursing staff were on hand for triage and assessments during all closures, as wells as referrals to emergency departments in other communities in the region, as needed.
Lac La Biche lost their emergency department for a total of 48 hours last month.
The community also lost their emergency department in June and August 2022; in March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2023; January, February, April, May, August, October, November, and December 2024; and January, April, May, June, and July 2025.
In May 2022, Lac La Biche also lost “obstetrical and surgical services for an undetermined period”.
Swan Hills
The next closure announcement came on the 13th, when AHS posted on their website that the they were shutting down the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre emergency department twice over the next week.
| Start | End | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00, 14 August | 08:00, 15 August | 24 hours |
| 08:00, 16 August | 08:00, 17 August | 24 hours |
| 48 hours |
All of these closures were caused by AHS having “a lack of clinical personnel”.
Swan Hills also lost ER service in January, February, May, July, and December of 2022; June, August, and November of 2023; January, April, June, August, September, October, and December of 2024; and January, May, June, and July 2025.
Athabasca
On the 14th, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Athabasca Healthcare Centre twice over the following 10 days.
| Start time | End time | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 18:00, 16 August | 06:00, 18 August | 36 hours |
| 18:00, 23 August | 06:00, 24 August | 12 hours |
| 48 hours |
On the 22nd, however, AHS said they had found coverage for the second closure.
That’s a combined 36 hours that the community was without their emergency department.
Nursing staff were on hand in the emergency department during these times to provide assessment and triage services, as well as refer patients to surrounding communities, if necessary.
This isn’t the first time the community lost their emergency department. AHS also closed it in April 2022 and December 2023.
Fort Macleod
On the 15th, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department in the Fort Macleod Health Centre for 5 hours on the 17th, beginning at 08:00 and ending at 13:00.
The next day, however, they started it at 21:00 on the 16th, 11 hours early.
That is a combined 16 hours that this emergency department was closed last month.
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, and July 2025.
Spirit River
On the 19th, AHS announced that they planned to close the emergency department at the Central Peace Health Complex in Spirit River.
The closure would start at 10:00 that morning and end at 10:00 the following morning, lasting for 24 hours.
This closure was a result of AHS not having enough “clinical personnel” in Spirit River.
Spirit River also lost its emergency department in August 2021; in April, June, and December of 2022; in August, September, and November of 2023; in January, July, September, and December 2024; and in May and June 2025.
Sylvan Lake
On the 22nd, AHS announced that they were closing the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service the following week.
It was to begin at 07:30 on the 25th 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 August.
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 2025.
Ongoing closures
Keep in mind that these are just the closures announced in August (well, and a few in July).
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 August.
Two Hills has had reduced hours since March 2024. 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. At the beginning of last month, AHS announced that the weekday closure would start 2 hours earlier every day. That amounts to 531 hours in August.
Finally, since September 2024, Elk Point has lost their emergency department for 25 hours starting at 07:00 every Wednesday. For August, that was 4 Wednesdays, for a combined 100 hours.
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