Alexandria, Ont. hospital reopens some overnight emergency services
The Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, Ont. has reopened its ER to 24 hour service, but only for part of the week.
The hospital closed its emergency room overnights from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. starting July 15, with the intention of having full 24-hour service return in two weeks.
But in a news release Tuesday, the hospital said staffing shortages will keep the ER closed overnight on weekends.
"Given the extreme staffing pressures we have been experiencing, we are not yet in a position to open fully seven days per week," the release said.
The hospital's ER will be open all day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but will only operate between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The plan is to be in place until Aug. 22.
"We remain committed to exploring all options to stabilize staffing, return to normal operations and to ensure the continued safety of our patients and staff," said hospital president and CEO Robert Alldred-Hughes. "The hospital has been actively recruiting new nurses, working with temporary staffing agencies, welcoming nurses back from leaves of absence, and assessing alternate models of care to address the system wide Health Human Resource shortage that we are experiencing at HGMH."
Residents are reminded to call 9-1-1 if experiencing severe shortness of breath, chest pain, severe bleeding or periods of unconsciousness. Ambulances will be redirected to the Cornwall Community Hospital or the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital when the ER is closed.
If you are experiencing less severe symptoms that still require immediate care, the HGMH asks you to drive to a neighbouring hospital.
The ER in Alexandria is just one of many forced to cut its hours or temporarily close because of staffing shortages linked to burnout, fatigue and COVID-19 related absences.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones told CP24 on Tuesday that the closures of emergency departments across the province is "disturbing" but she would not acknowledge whether the series of shutdowns is acceptable.
"I want to reassure people that Ontario Health is a major part of the plan to work with those local hospitals to make sure that they have the capacity and all the options have been put on the table," Jones said.
--With files from CTV's Nate Vandermeer and Hannah Alberga.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.