6 rural Alberta communities lost ER service last month

At the beginning of February, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut service at hospitals in 11 communities in January, 10 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 February, as well. Sure enough, there were. Here’s what I found.

Smoky Lake

The first closure was actually announced in January, 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 2 closures. Each was to begin at 19:00 and last 13 hours. The first was scheduled to start on the 31st, followed by a similar closure the following day.

Less than a week later, on the 5th, 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 12th, followed by one each on the next 3 subsequent days.

Finally, on the 26th, AHS announced four additional 13-hour closures, kicking off on at 19:00 that evening, with subsequent closures on each of the next 3 days, including the early hours of 1 March. The February portion of this closure was 44 hours in total.

That’s a combined 117 hours for the entire month of February.

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 pase January.

Lac La Biche

Also announced at the end of January, the second February closure was published by AHS, indicating 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 31st and last for 16 hours. The second was also to start at 16:00 on the 2nd, and also was set to last 16 hours.

Less than a week later, on the 5th, they announced three more 16-hour closures, all beginning at 16:00. The first was scheduled for the 5th, the second was scheduled for the 7th, and the third was scheduled for the 9th.

Nearly two weeks after that, on the 16th, AHS posted 2 more closures on their website for Lac La Biche. Both were scheduled to start at 16:00 and last for 16 hours, with the first beginning on the 20th and the next two on the 22nd.

Combined, Lac La Biche was without their emergency department for 112 hours in February.

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”.

Sylvan Lake

Also on the 31st of January, AHS announced that they were closing the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service for 4.5 hours: between 07:30 and noon on 1 February.

On the 16th, AHS said they planned to shut down ambulatory care again on the 20th. This time, the closure would last from 07:30 until 22:00.

Finally, they announced on the 23rd that they planned to close the service twice more by the end of the month. The first closure was to begin at 13:00 on the 26th and last 9 hours, and the second was to last for 7.5 hours, beginning at 07:30 on the 29th.

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 community lost ambulatory care for a combined 25.5 hours, not including the regular overnight closures.

These closures 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 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.

Fairview

The first closure announced in February 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.

A week later, on the 8th, AHS reported that they’d be closing this emergency department again for an additional 12 hours, starting at 07:00 the following morning.

Just one day later, they announced another 12-hour closure, this time for the 12th.

On the 13th, AHS announced two more closures for this ER. Both were scheduled to begin at 07:00—one on the 14th and the other on the 16th—and last for 24 hours.

A little over a week later, on the 21st, AHS announced another 24 hour closure, to begin at 07:00 on the 22nd. However, the next day, they reported that they found coverage starting at 17:00, so the closure ended up lasting 9 hours.

Finally, AHS announced at 14:00 on the 26th that they were shutting down this emergency department one more time this month, effective immediately and lasting until 07:00 the following morning.

That’s a total of 122 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.

Coronation

Also announced on the 1st of January was the closure of the emergency department at the Coronation Hospital and Care Centre.

However, AHS’s announcement was technically for 5 closures:

Start	End	Length
1 February, 08:00	2 February, noon	28 hours
5 February, 08:00	6 February, 08:00	24 hours
8 February, 08:00	9 February, noon	28 hours
12 February, 08:00	13 February, 08:00	24 hours
15 February, 08:00	16 February, 08:00	24 hours

Nearly 3 weeks later, on the 21st, AHS announced another 24-hour closure for the ER in Coronation, beginning at 08:00 the following morning.

Right after that closure finished on the 23rd, they announced another closure, starting at 08:00 on the 26th but lasting until the end of the month, and even into the 1st of March. The February lost hours for this closure amounted to 88 hours. Not only that, but this closure was going to include acute care, too, not just emergency care.

That’s a combined loss of 240 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, as well as this past January.

Rocky Mountain House

On the 12th, AHS announced that the ER in Rocky Mountain House would be closed from 18:00 that evening until 07:00 the following morning.

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

Wabasca

On 14 February, AHS announced that another community would lose emergency department service: Wabasca.

According to the announcement, the Wabasca Health Care Centre would have no emergency department service for 24 hours, beginning at 08:00 the following morning.

AHS indicated that the closure was because they hadn’t hired enough physicians.

This community also lost emergency department service in January, February, March, April, May, June, August, and September of 2022, as well as last March and April.