The Swan Hills Healthcare Centre’s emergency department was able to briefly re-open this weekend after Alberta Health Services (AHS) was able to find temporary coverage by a locum physician.
On Feb. 11, AHS sent out a release stating that the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre’s emergency department would be open from 5 p.m. today to 8 a.m. on Feb. 14.
At that time, the emergency department will again be closed and will remain as such until 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 18.
The release states there will be no hospital admissions before the Swan Hills Healthcare Centre resumes normal operations on Feb. 18.
The emergency department at Swan Hills was originally slated to remain closed from Feb. 1-18 due to physician vacancies.
During this period of disruption, nursing staff would remain on site in the emergency department to provide triage and assessments, as well as referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in surrounding communities.
Otherwise, patients in the Swan Hills were asked to call 9-1-1 if they had a medical emergency. EMS calls would be re-routed to either the Westlock Healthcare Centre, the Whitecourt Healthcare Centre or the Slave Lake Healthcare Centre.
For health-related calls that are non-emergencies, patients could also call Health Link at 8-1-1, which is available 24/7.
A new physician is slated to begin practicing in the community on March 14 and will be the second physician in Swan Hills.
