The Hinton Healthcare Centre won't have a doctor at its emergency department for four nights during the first week of January.
The disruptions will occur for the following time periods:
- 2 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 1 – 7 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 2
- 9 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 2 – 7 a.m., Friday, Jan. 3
- 9 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 4 – 7 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 5
- 9 p.m., Monday, Jan. 6 to 7 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 7
Hinton recently went without physician coverage at its emergency room for six nights during the holidays.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) says this interruption is due to the inability to secure physician coverage. The disruption will be cancelled if coverage can be found.
During these periods, nursing staff will remain on-site in the emergency department to providing triage, assessments and referrals to alternate emergency departments in neighbouring communities if needed.
EMS will remain available in Hinton. Residents are asked to call 911 if they have a medical emergency or Health Link at 811 for non-emergency medial questions.
Residents with concerns can provide feedback through AHS’s patient relations team at 1-855-550-2555.
This is one of many service interruptions that have occurred at the Hinton Healthcare Centre over the past year. In late June, Hinton council declared a local health care crisis due to a shortage of healthcare workers.
The provincial government has pledged to recruit more doctors to Hinton. In October, it announced a $16-million bursary program to attract more doctors to rural areas in Alberta.
