Central Alberta town without ER for 276 hours last month

At the beginning of October, I reported that Alberta Health Services had cut services at hospitals in 12 communities in September, 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 October, as well. Sure enough, there were. Here’s what I found.

Ponoka

The first October closure was actually announced toward the end of September, on the 27th, when AHS announced a closure for the emergency department at the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre.

The closure was to start on the 30th of September, but it was to include the first 8 hours of 1 October: from midnight until 08:00.

On the 12th, they announced two more closures for this emergency department. The first was scheduled to run from 17:00 on 14 October to 08:00 on 15 October, and the second was to last from 08:00 until 17:00 on 19 October.

Combined, the community was without its emergency department for 30 hours in October.

As expected, the closures were a result of the AHS not hiring enough physicians to provide adequate coverage in this emergency department.

EMS calls in Ponoka were to be re-routed to facilities in Wetaskiwin, Lacombe, or Red Deer.

Ponoka lost its emergency department 4 times this past August and 5 times this past September.

Lac La Biche

Another October closure announced in September occured on the 29th, when AHS said that they were closing down the emergency department at the Lac La Biche – William J. Cadzow Healthcare Centre.

The 9-hour closure was supposed to begin at 08:00 on the 3rd.

AHS posted a second closure on their website for Lac La Biche at the end of the month, on the 30th. It was to begin at 16:00 that evening and last until 08:00 the next morning, a total of 16 hours.

Combined, Lac La Biche was without their emergency department for 25 hours in October.

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 rerouted 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, twice in both past March and April, three times this past May, twice this past June, five times in both July and August, and once this past September. Last May, Lac La Biche also lost “obstetrical and surgical services for an undetermined period”.

Coronation

Also announced on the 29th of September 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
2 October, 08:00	3 October, 08:00	24 hours
5 October, 08:00	6 October, 12:00	28 hours
12 October, 08:00	13 October, 12:00	28 hours
16 October, 08:00	17 October, 12:00	28 hours
19 October, 08:00	20 October, 12:00	28 hours

Nearly a month later, on the 20th, AHS announced two more closures of the ER in Coronation. This time, the closures would last for nearly a week each time.

Start	End	Length
23 October, 08:00	27 October, 12:00	100 hours
30 October, 08:00	31 October, 23:59	40 hours

That’s a combined loss of 276 hours during the month of October.

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 this past April, May, June, July, and September.

Sylvan Lake

Also on the 29th of September, AHS announced that they were closing the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service twice over the next week.

• 2 October, 07:30–15:00, with service resuming at 15:00
• 3 October, 07:30–15:00, with service resuming at 15:00

A week later, AHS announced 3 more ambulatory care closures, resulting in a combined loss of 21.5 hours.

• 7 October, 15:00–22:00
• 8 October, 15:00–22:00
• 11 October, 07:30–15:00, with service resuming at 15:00

On the the 19th, they announced another 3 ambulatory care closures, totalling 30 hours.

• 20 October, 14:00–22:00
• 23 October, 07:30–15:00
• 28 October, 07:30–22:00

That’s a combined loss of 66.5 hours during the month of October.

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.

The closures were due to AHS not being able to hire enough physicians.

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

Smoky Lake

The first closure actually announced in October was on the 3rd, when AHS declared they were closing down the emergency department at the George McDougall Healthcare Centre in Smoky Lake.

This was supposed to be a 24-hour closure beginning at 08:00 on the 5th and lasting until 08:00 in the morning of the 6th.

A week later, on the 11th, AHS announced a second closure for this emergency department, starting at 08:00 the following morning and lasting until 08:00 on the 13th, a total of 24 hours.

Two weeks after that, they announced a third 24-hour closure, which was scheduled to start at 08:00 on the 26th.

That’s a combined 72 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 conduct triage and assessments. EMS was rerouted to health facilities in surrounding communities.

Smoky Lake also lost their ER in August of last year and July of this year.

This isn’t the first time that Smoky Lake has lost its emergency department either. It was closed down for part of one day last April, August, and September, as well as this past March, June, July, August, and September.

Milk River

The community of Milk River received a closure notice on the 5th, when AHS said that they were closing the emergency department at the Milk River Health Centre.

It was to begin at 08:00 that morning and last until 17:00 the next day, a total of 33 hours.

A second closure was announced at the end of the month, “effective immediately” on the 31st and lasting until 08:00 the following morning.

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 last year, as well as January, February, May, July, August, and September of this year.

Viking

On the 6th, AHS issued a closure for the emergency department in the Viking Health Centre.

This closure was to run for 16 hours, beginning at 07:00. on the morning of 8 October.

AHs claimed that the closure was “due to gaps in physician coverage”. Apparently, they didn’t have a large enough frontline workforce to account for contingencies.

This is the first time the community lost their emergency department; however, they lost obstetrical services twice this past July.

Fort Macleod

Just 5 days later, on the 11th, AHS announced that they were closing the emergency department at the Fort Macleod Health Centre for 33 hours starting at 08:00 that morning.

This closure, like so many others, was due to AHS being able to hire enough physicians to cover the emergency department during that time.

A week later, however, AHS announced on the 18th that they were closing this emergency department 33 hours yet again. The closure was to run from 08:00 that morning until 17:00 that evening.

In both cases, 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 town was without ER service for a total of 66 hours last month.

Fort Macleod also lost its emergency department briefly this past September.

Rocky Mountain House

Also on the 11th, AHS announced that the ER in Rocky Mountain House would be closed until 16:00 that day; although, they didn’t indicate what time the closure began.

Less than a week later, on the 17th, Rocky Mountain House was hit with another closure announcement, when AHS said that they’d be shutting down the ER for 15 hours, beginning at 16:00 that night.

Like so many others, these closures were “due to gaps in physician coverage”.

The community lost their emergency department for brief periods in May 2021 and this past June, July, and August, acute care beds in July 2021, and lost obstetric services in January 2022.

Beaverlodge

The next community to get a closure was Beaverlodge, near Grande Prairie. AHS announced on the 13th that they’d be shutting down their emergency department for the entire weekend.

The closure was to begin the following day, on the 14th, at 07:00 and last for 48 hours.

A little two weeks later (on the 27th), AHS reported a second closure for Beaverlodge. It was scheduled to begin at 07:00 on the 29th and last until 07:00 the following morning.

That’s a combined 72 hours for the entire month of october.

As with the Lac La Biche and Smoky Lake closures, these closures were a result of AHS’s inability to hire enough doctors. Nurses were on hand for triage and assessment.

Beaverlodge’s emergency department saw closures last May, July, August, November, and December, too, as well as this past January, March, May, July, August, and September.

Fairview

On the 16th, Alberta Health Services noted on their website that the Fairview Health Complex would have no on-site physician coverage in the emergency department for 24 hours

The closure was scheduled to begin at 07:00 the following morning.

A little over a week later, on the 25th, AHS reported that they’d be closing this emergency department again for another 24 hours, beginning at 07:00 the following morning.

That’s a total of 48 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.

Valleyview

AHS announced a second closure on the 16th, this time for emergency department at the Valleyview Health Centre.

The closure was to begin at 17:00 that evening and last for 14 hours, until 07:00 the following morning, and was once again a result of AHS’s “inability to secure physician coverage”.

Just 4 days later, AHS announced another closure for this hospital, which was scheduled to begin at 07:00 on the 23rd and last for 24 hours.

Nurses, however, were available in the emergency department during both closures, but only to provide triage, assessments, and referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in surrounding communities, as needed.

These are the first closures announced for this community since I started tracking hospital closures in May 2021.