Chinook Regional Hospital emergency department seeing temporary staff reduction through summer

LETHBRIDGE — The emergency department at Chinook Regional Hospital may see longer-than-normal wait times throughout the summer, as Alberta Health Services (AHS) deals with a temporary physician reduction.

"We normally have seven physicians scheduled to work and those are overlapping shifts," said Dr. Aaron Low, AHS medical director for the South Zone.

"So, if we're down to six physicians, that's less, and the real concern is if we get down to five."

Low says summer holidays are behind the reduction of staff.

He says while 18 physicians cover the ER, he'd like to see four more join.

Along with doctors, locums fill about 25 to 30 per cent of shifts throughout the year.

"The number of days this is going to be a reality is not a huge, large number," he said.

"In August, it's a lot better than it was in July, for example."

AHS has moved schedules around to fill the gaps.

But with fewer physicians on some days, wait times are expected to rise.

"If you're having a heart attack, if you've been in a car accident, you will get the same care you would," Low said.

"If you have something less serious that could be seen by a family physician, then those people are going to wait longer."

Health advocates say understaffing continues to have an impact everywhere.

"It's a domino effect," said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.

"If you see Milk River and Fort Macleod's ER close, people get shifted to Lethbridge. It puts strain on our ambulance systems. It puts strain on our regional hospitals."

Gallaway wants to see the province and AHS create a long-term plan to address staffing concerns to mitigate closures.

"People that don't have a family doctor, they can't get in to see someone and they're showing up at emergency rooms and urgent care centres to try and access health care, so all of that's adding strain and at the same time, we're seeing a reduction in staffing," Gallaway said.

"So we really have to look at health-care human resources, at our workforce, and come up with a plan to address it and not just say it's a blip in the summertime. It's a lot more than that."

Low says AHS continues recruitment efforts.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta says Lethbridge gained 28 new physicians over the past year.

Low says despite the reduction, the ER will remain open 24-7.

"If you are unwell, patients should come. You will get care and you will be seen," he said.

AHS says the temporary reduction will be in place until the end of August.