P.E.I. hospital ER suspending Saturday hours [Video]

A Prince Edward Island hospital will be suspending emergency services on Saturdays due to staffing shortages.

The Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague will temporarily suspend emergency services on Saturdays starting Jan. 11, according to a news release from Health PEI.

“I want people in Kings County to know this is not a decision we made lightly,” said Melanie Fraser, CEO of Health PEI, in the release. “Our efforts to maintain Saturday morning services by increasing incentives for locum physicians was partially successful, but the ongoing uncertainty of opening and closing the emergency department week-to-week has been extremely stressful on staff.

“We need to take this action to avoid over-burdening some of our most important, skilled, and valuable workers.”

The final Saturday shift in the emergency department will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 1. Regular weekday hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. will remain unchanged.

“There is no solution to our …