St. Marys Memorial Hospital is temporarily reducing its hours of operation in the emergency department because of staffing shortages.
Between April 9 and April 12, patients will be admitted from 7 am to 6 pm, and then the ER will close overnight.
In a release sent to media Friday afternoon, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance said the reduction would continue until 7 am on April 13.
“In reaching this decision, every safe option available to us has been assessed with temporarily hours of operation the most responsible reducing course of action at this time,” said Andrew Williams, the president and CEO, in the release. “Despite these temporary adjustments, we remain fortunate to have a very strong emergency response system across our region. All key partners, including paramedics and adjacent hospital, are aware of this decision. Our team has been doing everything possible to sustain services during these challenging times and I want to acknowledge these incredible and ongoing efforts.”
Anyone needing care outside these reduced hours should call 911 and paramedics will patients to the nearest emergency department: Stratford General Hospital, Alexandra Hospital in Ingersoll, University Hospital or Victoria Hospital in London.
“We had a last minute, unfortunate situation staffing-wise,” Williams said. “It was based on an absence from a member of our team, and we will evaluate this moving forward.
“I wish I could say never say never, but we are dealing with a very tenuous situation in general right now.”
Williams adds that, while there were several factors that led to the decision, COVID-19 is simply having an impact on staffing.
“We have, across our organization, 87 staff off one day last week, 13 physicians, so that does have an impact,” he said. “You layer that on top of just the general challenges we’re facing.”
The president and CEO says the staffing challenges may get worse in the short term, but paramedic staffing levels are being increased to be prepared.
“Our Perth EMS is up-staffed for the four nights, not because we’re expecting a large volume of people, but just to be safe,” said Williams. “Our Stratford ED, which is 20 km away, is aware of the situation, as are others.”
Cambridge Memorial Hospital and Grand River Hospital in Kitchener told CTV News on Friday that they were also short-staffed due to COVID-19 protocols.