Perth hospital emergency department closing due to COVID-19 outbreak
The emergency department at the Perth hospital will be closed for five days due to a staffing shortage.
The Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital says the emergency department will be closed from 7 a.m. on Saturday until Thursday, July 7 following a COVID-19 outbreak impacting staff in the department.
"In spite of our best efforts to preserve care in the Perth Emergency Department, COVID-19 has placed yet another burden on our fragile staffing situation," the hospital said in a statement.
"Today we learned of a COVID-19 outbreak impacting our Emergency Department Staff. This left the PSFDH team with no other option but to close the Perth Emergency Department effective Saturday, July 2 at 7 a.m."
Available staff from the emergency department at the Perth Hospital will be transferred to the Smiths Falls hospital emergency department to support the anticipated increase in patients.
"The PSFDH team had a plan in place to continue services to the community but due to the terrible pandemic, PSFDH is no longer able to safely operate our Perth Emergency Department," said Michael Cohen, president and CEO of the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital. "This decision is the result of the unprecedented times and not a decision that has been taken lightly. Patient care and staff and physician safety remain the top priorities."
The emergency department will remain closed until July 7. The hospital says as the "staffing situation stabilizes", the emergency department in Perth will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The announcement of the closure of the emergency department at the Perth hospital comes one day after the hospital insisted nightly closures would not happen. News circulated on Tuesday that the emergency department at the Perth hospital would be closed from July to September between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
On Wednesday, the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital announced the hospital decided there would be "no closure of departments/services at this time."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.