The Consort Hospital and Care Centre emergency department (ED), located about 250 km southeast of Edmonton, will be closed for the next three months because of sustained, significant shortages of nurses. .Alberta Health Services (AHS) is working to resume regular operating hours in March through its recruitment efforts, according to a Tuesday press release. The release said AHS will continue to reassess its ability to open sooner. .Patients presenting to the ED during regular operating hours – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon on Friday – will be referred to emergency departments in surrounding communities or to the local medical clinic for follow-up with a family physician. Emergency responders will divert patients to facilities in Coronation, Castor, or Provost as needed..Patients are asked to call 911 if they have a medical emergency..People seeking care can call Health Link at 811 depending on their needs. .This announcement comes after AHS had to post 32 notices of no physician coverage or other service disruptions in several rural Alberta healthcare facilities in January and February. .READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Alberta’s physician shortages cause dozens of rural ER closures.There were about 70 notices of no physician coverage or other service disruptions in 2021 and seven in 2020..With the exception of several calls for volunteers, notices of a few facilities affected due to construction, and a four-day closure notice of the Rocky Mountain House Heliport, AHS did not notify of any physician shortages in 2019.
