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yet again

Sylvan Lake care centre closed this morning

Oct 18, 2022 | 10:00 AM

the Sylvan Lake Advanced Ambulatory Care Service (SLAACS) is closed from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, October 18 due to a gap in physician coverage.

AHS informed media of this at 9:53 a.m. Tuesday morning.

MORE: Mayor: Repeated closures of Sylvan Lake health facility “unacceptable”

The Service will open at 3 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. Regular hours of operation (7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.) will resume on Wednesday, October 19, AHS says.

This is at least the sixth time a closure has occurred since rdnewsNOW spoke with the mayor of Sylvan Lake on Aug. 11.

AHS adds:

This temporary closure is necessary as the service cannot operate without a physician onsite. Efforts to secure locum physician coverage on short notice to support the morning shift have been exhausted.

Patients arriving at the Sylvan Lake Community Health Centre to receive care at the Advanced Ambulatory Care Service during the temporary closure will be redirected to other available care options as appropriate to their needs. These options include returning when the service resumes, booking an appointment with a family doctor, or calling Health Link at 811 for medical information and advice.

Patients can also access medical care for urgent health concerns from facilities in nearby communities, including Innisfail, Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer.

SLAACS offers diagnosis and treatment of urgent but non-life-threatening conditions. These include sudden illness or injury that could be cared for in a doctor’s office but require immediate attention. Examples of urgent needs include minor cuts or burns, muscle and joint strains, bone fractures, and fever in young children.

SLAACS is not for life-threatening emergencies such as heart attack, signs/symptoms of stroke, head trauma, seizures, etc.

Patients requiring emergency medical care should call 911.

Booked appointments with other services at the Sylvan Lake Community Health Centre are not impacted by the temporary closure of SLAACS.

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