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BARRHEAD-For the fourth time in a little over a month, the Barrhead Healthcare Centre has been hit with service disruptions due to a lack of on-site physician coverage, which significantly curtails emergency care at the hospital.
In a Dec. 31 media release, Alberta Health Services (AHS) stated the hospital would be without on-site physician coverage for 12 hours period starting on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. and running to Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 a.m.
During this time, AHS stated that nursing staff will be on-site in the hospital’s emergency department to provide urgent triage and assessments, as well as referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in neighbouring communities.
Barrhead residents with a medical emergency are otherwise directed to call 9-1-1. Emergency medical services (EMS) will then be re-routed to the Westlock Healthcare Centre 41 kilometres away or the Whitecourt Healthcare Centre 99 kilometres away.
Depending on their needs, patients seeking care at the emergency department in Barrhead will also be aware of services available through local pharmacies.
“This is a temporary measure and AHS is working hard to ensure local residents continue to have access to the care they need during this time,” the release states.
“We are thankful for the support of surrounding healthcare centres and medical staff and would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding during this time.”
Previous disruptions
As indicated before, this will be the fourth time that AHS has announced that there would not be any on-site physician care at the Barrhead Healthcare Centre.
The first such instance was Nov. 30 when there were no doctors available in the emergency department from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Dec. 1.
The second disruption occurred in mid-December. There was a lack of physician coverage for three 12-hour periods running from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on Dec. 18-19, Dec. 19-20 and Dec. 21-22.
Finally, the Barrhead Healthcare Centre was supposed to be without any on-site physician coverage for a 36-hour period running from 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 28 to 8 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30.
In November, during a Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce meeting, Barrhead's medical director Dr. Kent Bernes suggested that there might be service disruptions at the hospital during the Christmas and New Year holidays, due to the low number of physicians in the community.
Bernes had told the chamber members that Barrhead would only have about half of the physicians it is targeted to have by the end of January.
AHS spokesperson Logan Clow also stated that these disruptions in emergency care were due to physician vacancies and the inability to secure a locum — a physician from out of the area who could temporarily cover a shift at the hospital.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
-with files from Kevin Berger
