WESTLOCK – A shortage of staff is being blamed for a temporary, month-long reduction of acute care beds at the Westlock Healthcare Centre.
A July 26 news release from Alberta Health Services issued just after 5 p.m. states that the number of acute care beds will be reduced from 46 to 36 at the Westlock hospital from July 26 until Aug. 29. Emergency services, labour and delivery, the stroke program and surgical services remain available and operational.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said AHS North Zone senior communications officer Logan Clow in a news release. “The safety of our patients and staff is at the heart of every decision we make. This is a temporary measure to ensure safe and high-quality care for patients, and a quality work environment for staff. AHS continues to look for solutions to address staffing needs.”
The release goes on to state that AHS’ hiring efforts continue and they will reopen spaces as soon as they are able. Clow goes on to add that they will continue to update the community about recruitment efforts and thank them for their understanding.
The Westlock closure announcement comes on the heels of a similar one last week in Barrhead, while in another published report July 23, Deb Gordon, the chief operating officer for AHS, said that more than 98 per cent of beds in acute and emergency care are available provincewide.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact through staff redeployment and a depletion of the available pool of casual staff, which is being seen across Canada. As well, with frontline staff working extremely hard through the course of the pandemic, staff are taking well-deserved vacation time and we thank them for their incredible efforts through the waves of the pandemic to date,” Clow notes in the release.
“We will continue to support our staff, and work with them, through challenging times such as this to ensure safe care for patients and safe and healthy working conditions for staff.”
