Rural Alta. community nearing 100 days without overnight emergency service
The emergency department at a health-care centre north of Edmonton has not been open overnight since July.
"High vacancies among nursing staff and an inability to secure sufficient temporary coverage" was the reason cited by Alberta Health Services when it initially announced the service disruption at the Boyle Healthcare Centre on June 30.
At the time, it was expected the facility would be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until August.
But AHS extended the new schedule three more times, including on Sept. 29.
Now, the community 150 kilometres north of Alberta's capital city will not have overnight emergency service until at least Oct. 31.
"This will allow existing staff to provide consistent service each day, during the times when the majority of emergency department and outpatient visits occur. Inpatient admissions will be paused," AHS said in the Thursday notice.
As of Monday, Boyle's emergency department had been closed overnight for 94 days. If it opens overnight on Nov. 1, it will be the first time in 122 days.
AHS said patient safety and care are its highest priorities.
"The organization is working hard to ensure everyone will receive the care they need through its partnership with EMS and a robust regional network of healthcare centres."
Boyle has a population of about 780, according to the Alberta Regional Dashboard.
Seeing staff shortages in dozens of communities across the province, the Alberta government has launched several initiatives to recruit new workers and incentivize some to work in remote areas, such as the Alberta Rural Health Professions Action Plan, the Rural Education Supplement and Integrated Doctor Experience (RESIDE) program, and a campaign to draw skilled workers from other provinces.
- Project meant to draw physicians to rural Alta. has made 1 successful placement: government
- Alberta premier slams GTA home prices, cost of living in campaign to draw workers west
Monday morning, an AHS website listing health-care facility service disruptions and closures showed 29 impacted sites.
The AHS job board featured postings for home care, operating room, and travel nurses across Alberta.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Kyra Markov
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.