Alexandria, Ont. hospital closing its emergency department this weekend due to staff shortage

The Hopital Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, Ont. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

The emergency department at the hospital in Alexandria, Ont. will be closed this weekend due to a staffing shortage.

The Glengarry Memorial Hospital says it made the "difficult decision" to close the emergency department from 6 p.m. on Friday until 8 a.m. on Monday.

"Like many hospitals across the province, Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital (HGMH) continues to face significant pressures due to ongoing staffing shortages and high demand for care," the hospital said in a statement.

"Every day, HGMH’s teams work diligently to carefully balance the need for our services with staffing being a significant challenge.

The Glengarry Memorial Hospital says its team continues to actively recruit at a time, "when nursing shortages make this a significant challenge."

This isn't the first time the emergency department at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital has been closed due to a staffing shortage.  The ER was temporarily closed for 14 hours over the Labour Day weekend.

The emergency department was also closed from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily from July 15 until early August, and then it was closed overnight on weekends until Aug. 22.