After a recent letter sent from Alberta Health Services stakeholders, the Town of Swan Hills will be without physician coverage in the emergency room every night at Swan Hills Healthcare Centre from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. due to a lack of registered nursing staff and an inability to secure proper coverage.
The temporary closure until July 9th will allow on-site staff to be at the facility for 12 hours during the day, during which most outpatient and emergency room visits take place. All in-patient visits will be temporarily unavailable, while AHS says that the two designated living support beds could be available if they can find staffing.
Emergency calls will be re-routed during the nightly closures to Westlock Healthcare Centre (118 km), Whitecourt Healthcare Centre (80 km) and Slave Lake Healthcare Centre (116 km). People should still call 9-1-1 if there is an emergency.
The temporary closure began on June 9th.