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UPDATE: Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre emergency department to be closed Tuesday

The closure will run from 6:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
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Editor’s note: The story was initially published with the incorrect date; it has been corrected.

Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre’s emergency department will be closed on Tue. March 28, 2023, due to a physician illness.

Due to this physician “gap,” the emergency department will close at 6:30 a.m.

Anyone presenting in the site after this time will be assessed by nursing staff and referred to other sources of care, be it 811, family physicians, or emergency departments in surrounding communities, depending on patient condition.

If necessary, ambulance transport will be arranged.

Ambulances transporting patients will be routed to surrounding facilities such as Wetaskiwin Hospital and Care Centre, Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre, and Red Deer Regional Hospital.

“This is a temporary measure due to physician illness,” said Alberta Health Services communications officer Heather Kipling, via a media release announcing the closure.

“Such closures are taken as a last resort after options to secure alternate physician coverage have been exhausted. All other services at the site continue to operate a normal.”

Service will resume in the Ponoka hospital emergency department at 5 p.m. on March. 28.