AHS shut down ER at 7 hospitals in November

Last month, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut service at hospitals in 12 communities in October, 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 November, as well. Sure enough, there were.

Here’s what I found.

Fairview

The first closure announcement for November actually came in October, when AHS noted on their website that the Fairview Health Complex would have no on-site physician coverage in the emergency department several times over the next week.

Start	End	Hours
00:00, 1 November	07:00, 2 November	31 hours
07:00, 4 November	07:00, 6 November	48 hours
		79 hours

The November portion of this closure was a combined 79 hours.

A week later, on 6 November, they announced 3 additional closures.

Start	End	Hours
07:00, 7 November	07:00, 11 November	96 hours
07:00, 12 November	07:00, 14 November	48 hours
07:00, 15 November	07:00, 16 November	24 hours
		168 hours

On the 18th, they said they were closing Fairview’s emergency department again. The closure was to begin at 07:00 the following morning and last for 24 hours.

10 days later, they announced the final November closure for Fairview. It was actually 3 closures, but only the first would occur in November. It was to start at 07:00 on the 29th and end 24 hours later.

That’s a combined 295 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, 9 times in July, 6 times in August, 8 times in September, and 9 times in October.

Lac La Biche

The next closure announcement also came in October. On Halloween, AHS announced they were closing the emergency department at the Lac La Biche – William J. Cadzow Healthcare Centre.

It was actually an announcement for 7 closures.

Start	End	Hours
16:00, 1 November	08:00, 2 November	16 hours
16:00, 4 November	08:00, 5 November	16 hours
16:00, 5 November	08:00, 6 November	16 hours
16:00, 6 November	08:00, 7 November	16 hours
16:00, 7 November	08:00, 8 November	16 hours
16:00, 8 November	08:00, 9 November	16 hours
16:00, 9 November	08:00, 10 November	16 hours
		112 hours

A little over a week later, on the 8th, AHS posted that they were planning 3 more closures throughout the rest of the month.

Start	End	Hours
08:00, 12 November	17:00, 12 November	9 hours
16:00, 20 November	08:00, 21 November	16 hours
16:00, 29 November	08:00, 30 November	16 hours

That works out to a combined loss of 153 hours for this community’s emergency department in November.

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, 12 times this past May, 6 times this past August, and 3 times this past October.

In May 2022, Lac La Biche also lost “obstetrical and surgical services for an undetermined period”.

Smoky Lake

On the 7th, AHS declared that they were shutting down the emergency department at the George McDougall Healthcare Centre in Smoky Lake.

Technically, it was 4 closures.

Start	End	Hours
17:00, 7 November	08:00, 8 November	15 hours
17:00, 14 November	08:00, 15 November	15 hours
17:00, 21 November	17:00, 22 November	15 hours
17:00, 28 November	17:00, 29 November	15 hours
		60 hours

That’s a combined 60 hours for the entire month of November.

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, July, August, and September.

Picture Butte

On the 8th, AHS issued a closure notice, 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 for the entire day that day, as well as all day on the 9th.

Regular clinic hours on weekdays are from 17:00 to 22:00 and on weekends from 10:00 to 15:00. That means that this closure lasted for a combined 10 hours.

This is the fifth 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, and October too, and the entire hosptial closed down in August due to a water main break.

Hinton

On the 16th, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Hinton Health Centre. It was to start at midnight that evening and last for 7 hours, ending at 07:00 on the 17th.

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

This emergency department also experienced closures in May, July, August, September, and October of this year.

Drayton Valley

On the 21st, Drayton Valley found out that they were losing their emergency department, when AHS announced they planned to close it for 14 hours. The closure started at 18:00 on the 21st and ended at 08:00 the following morning.

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

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

Boyle

AHS published an announcement on the 22nd saying that they were closing the emergency department at the Boyle Healthcare Centre. The closure was scheduled to run from 17:00 that evening and last for 3 hours.

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

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

Edson

Towards the end of the month, on the 27th, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Edson Healthcare Centre. The closure was to begin at 15:00 that afternoon and last for 17 hours, until 08:00 the following morning.

This is the first time this community has had its emergency department closed since I began tracking closures in May 2021. AHS did close the surgical suites in this hospital for 53 hours back in August 2021.

Keep in mind that these are just the closures announced in October. 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 Two Hills, which has had reduced hours since March, closing between 16:00 on Friday and 08:00 on Monday, as well as between 20:00 and 08:00 on weeknights.