LAC LA BICHE - Emergency department service at Lac La Biche's William J. Cadzow Hospital will see several days of disruption over the next week.
No doctors Friday night and next Mon-Wed
Alberta Health Services issued an advisory on Friday saying that due to an inability to secure physician services the hospital's Emergency Department will be without physician coverage from Friday, June 23 at 5pm to Saturday, June 24 at 8 am. Another disruption will take place from Monday June 26 at 5pm to Wednesday, June 28 at 8 am.
Nursing staff will remain on-site in the emergency department providing triage, assessments and referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in surrounding communities, as needed.
AHS officials are reminding residents to call 911 if they have a medical emergency.
"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," explains
AHS spokesperson Shelly Willsey. "If coverage is found, this disruption may be cancelled."
EMS can transfer patients
Residents can also call Health Link at 811, which is available 24/7 for non-emergency health-related questions. EMS will also available to the community and will be re-routed to surrounding healthcare centres.
"We are grateful for the support of surrounding healthcare centres and medical staff and would like to thank the community for its patience and understanding during this time," Willsey noted.
The service disruption is the latest of several that have taken place at the Cadzow hospital in recent months. With a reduction in doctors in the Lac La Biche region over the last three years, community leaders are continuing efforts to recruit new physicians for the region.
While physician shortages are common across rural Alberta communities, including similar recent disruptions at other health centres across the Lakeland, in a news statement sent out by AHS on Friday about the Cadzow disruption, the current focus areas of the health agency are listed as "reducing emergency department wait-times, improving EMS response times, increasing access to surgeries, and improving patient flow."
Lac La Biche County council members are part of a regional recruitment and retention committee that has been in place for the last four years. The committee is geared at finding and keeping new physicians. The committee meets regularly.
