Beaverlodge ER faces onsite doctor shortage this week

By Trent Wilkie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette

The Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital emergency department will be without onsite physician coverage from 8 p.m. Nov. 10 to 8 a.m. Nov. 11; from 8 p.m. Nov. 12 to 8 a.m. Nov. 13; and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 14, according to an Alberta Health Services (AHS) release issued Nov. 10.

Patients are advised to call 911 if they have a medical emergency during these times. EMS will remain available to the community and will be rerouted to surrounding facilities, including Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.

Chris Galloway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, sees this as another problem the Alberta government isn’t trying to solve.

“Why is this happening? What services do they need in communities as a bare minimum?” Galloway said. “To me, the bare minimum should be an ambulance that shows up when you need it and an emergency room door that’s open when you show up. We should be seeing a strategy to ensure that’s in place, and we’re not seeing that. Instead, we’re seeing this refocusing that’s splitting the system apart and making it more confusing about what agency or what minister is in charge of having a plan to even do that.”

Over the past several months, similar emergency department closures have occurred in other Alberta communities. In Fort Macleod, the department was closed Nov. 5 and 6 because of lack of coverage, with EMS rerouted to Chinook Regional Hospital, located 49 kilometres away. Bow Island has faced ongoing adjustments from staff shortages, with limited hours restored and walk-in windows in place while recruitment continues. Killam has experienced several closures throughout 2025, attributed to physician contract gaps, prompting concerns among residents that such disruptions are now commonplace.

“Once you lose these things, it’s harder and harder to get them back,” Galloway said. “So we need to stop losing folks. Stop the closures right now or it’s going to be even harder to ever have those services back in the community because you can’t recruit your way out of a retention crisis. We need to take it very seriously now so this isn’t the normal for Beaverlodge and elsewhere going forward.”

The release states the closure is due to a clinical personnel shortage and an inability to secure temporary coverage. Nursing staff will remain onsite in the emergency department to provide triage, assessments and referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in neighbouring communities, as needed.

“The healthcare workers are constantly working short, they’re stressed, they’re burnt out,” Galloway said. “But they’re still managing to provide great care and help people when they need it. We need to figure out a way to keep those workers working, find more of them, keep our facilities open and have a baseline discussion about that.”

The release says virtual emergency physician coverage may be available for all or part of this service advisory. Community members are reminded to call Health Link at 811, which is available 24/7 for non-emergency health questions. If residents have concerns, they can contact the Patient Relations team at 1-855-550-2555.