Chinook Regional Hospital emergency department seeing temporary staff reduction through summer [Video]

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, …