Hinton's emergency department won't have physician coverage from 9 p.m. on Thursday (Dec. 5) to 7 a.m. on Friday (Dec. 6).
Alberta Health Services says the temporary disruption at the Hinton Healthcare Centre is due to an inability to secure physician coverage, but the disruption will be cancelled if coverage can be found.
Nursing staff will still be available to provide triage, assessments and referrals to alternate emergency departments in neighbouring communities as needed.
EMS will remain available, and patients should call 911 if they have a medical emergency or 811 for non-emergency questions related to health.
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.
