A small-town Ontario hospital is reducing its emergency room hours of operation this week, and the organization running it says the strain on the local health system is expected to continue past the summer.
The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance said the emergency department at St. Marys Memorial Hospital would close at 5 p.m. on Monday “as a result of continued health human resource shortages.”
Reduced hours will be in effect throughout the week, with the hospital’s emergency room scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. from Tuesday through Friday.
The emergency department is scheduled to resume 24-hour service on Saturday at 7 a.m.
Temporary emergency room closures have plagued Ontario hospitals, particularly rural ones, throughout the summer as the health system contends with a shortage of nurses and other staff.
In a statement Monday, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance said it anticipates the issues won’t be resolved by the end of the summer.
“Increased demands in the health-care system, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, are leading to health care staffing shortages,” the hospital operator said in its written statement. “These pressures will continue into the fall.”
The St. Marys hospital emergency room was closed earlier this month, as was the health alliance’s Seaforth Community Hospital, which had reopened as of Monday.
St. Marys patients are being advised to seek emergency care at hospitals in surrounding communities including Stratford, Exeter, Ingersoll and London — though the hospital group encouraged people to check the operating hours at other emergency departments before travelling there.
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