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Carleton Place hospital closing ER Monday night

The Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital in Carleton Place. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa) The Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital in Carleton Place. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)
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The Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital is again closing its emergency department because of an ongoing nursing shortage.

There will be no ER service from 7 p.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday. The rest of the hospital is open. Nearest ERs are in Almonte, Arnprior, Perth, Smiths Falls and Ottawa.

This is the fourth time in the past month that the hospital has had to close its ER temporarily. The hospital also announced overnight closures from from June 4 to 5, June 9 to 10, and June 23 to 25.

Officials declined an interview with CTV News Ottawa, but said in a statement that the hospital is struggling to maintain staffing levels like many rural hospitals in Ontario.

"The Emergency Departments have a very small staff with two nurses working on each shift. If one of them is sick, there is a big impact as there is not a large pool of specially trained staff to draw from," said the statement attributed to hospital president and CEO Mary Wilson Trider.

Wilson Trider said the Mississippi River Health Alliance has been working to support the hospitals in its region, including through hiring 18 university students as clinical externs and offering the Community Commitment Program for Nurses to 14 people, who would be eligible for grant funding if they agree to a two-year contract. The hospital also works closely with regional paramedics, Wilson Trider said.

Construction is underway on a new emergency department at the Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital.

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