COLD LAKE – Alberta Health Services (AHS) has announced two temporary overnight closures of the Cold Lake Healthcare Centre’s emergency department once again.
The emergency department had been without an on-site physician from Monday evening at 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Cold Lake Hospital will similarly be without physician coverage from 11 p.m. on May 18 until 7 a.m. the next morning on Thursday, May 19.
These temporary closures are a result of an inability to secure locum or permanent coverage at the facility, according to the provincial healthcare provider.
“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,” states AHS.
While a physician will not be on duty, nursing staff will remain on-site at Cold Lake’s emergency department to provide triage and assessments, as well as referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in the surrounding communities as needed.
Patients are asked to call 911 if they have a medical emergency.
EMS will remain available to the community and will be re-routed to surrounding healthcare centres to ensure residents continue to have access to the emergency services they need.
AHS further reminds residents to call Health Link at 811, which is available 24/7 for non-emergency health-related questions.
