The Hinton Healthcare Centre Emergency Department will be temporarily without on-site physician coverage from 5 p.m. Monday (Aug. 5) to 7 a.m. Tuesday (Aug. 6).
Alberta Health Services (AHS) says nursing staff will remain on-site to provide triage, assessments and referrals to emergency departments in neighbouring communities, as needed.
“AHS continues to work to find physician coverage for this time period. If coverage is found, this disruption will be cancelled,” AHS stated in a Friday (Aug. 2) public service announcement.
“This is a temporary measure and AHS is working hard to ensure residents continue to have access to the care they need during this time.”
Patients are asked to call 911 if they have a medical emergency or call Health Link at 811 for non-emergency health-related questions.
This is one of several service interruptions that have occurred at the Hinton hospital over the past several months.
In late June, Hinton council declared a local health care crisis due to a shortage of healthcare workers.
West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange recently committed to recruit five new family physicians to the area.
