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Last Resort

Temporary change in hours for Advanced Ambulatory Care Service in Sylvan Lake

Aug 9, 2021 | 3:48 PM

The Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service (SLAACS) will operate on temporarily reduced hours on Tuesday, August 10.

The service will be without physician coverage from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., so will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on August 10 only. Normal operations will resume at 7:30 a.m. on August 11.

Officials with Alberta Health Services (AHS) say this is a temporary measure taken as a last resort.

Patients arriving at SLAACS outside the hours of operation will be redirected to other care options as appropriate. These options include returning the morning of August 11 during regular business hours, booking an appointment with their family doctor, or calling Health Link at 811 for medical information and advice.

Scheduled appointments with other health services – like Public Health, laboratory and Addiction and Mental Health –at the Sylvan Lake Community Health Centre are not impacted by the temporary change in hours for SLAACS.

Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service offers diagnosis and treatment of urgent, but non-life-threatening conditions, seven days a week. These include sudden illness or injury that could be cared for in a doctor’s office but requires immediate attention.

Patients requiring emergency medical care are to call 911.

AHS officials say all avenues to secure physician coverage for all day August 10 have been exhausted. Efforts to secure coverage of other vacant shifts during the month of August are ongoing to minimize impacts to service and the community as much as possible.