By Sheldon Spackman

Short delay in opening of Sylvan Lake’s Advanced Ambulatory Care Service

Apr 9, 2018 | 11:11 AM

Alberta Health Services has announced a small delay in the much-anticipated opening of Sylvan Lake’s new Advanced Ambulatory Care Service.

Originally slated for a May 22 opening, AHS spokesperson Andrea Liptak says the service at the Sylvan Lake Community Health Centre will now open on June 4 with a grand opening to be held sometime at a later date.

The short delay, she says, is the result of a supplier’s ability to manufacture and install a key piece of air handling equipment.

“Everything else about the project remains on schedule,” says Liptak. “Not a big concern, we always expect a bit of delay on big projects like this. Certainly the community is anxious to get the service in place and we’re anxious to be able to offer the service in the community, so we’re glad it’s only a couple of weeks.”

“We’d like the public to know that while we are delayed a couple of weeks, we’re still close to being on target, so it’s not a significant delay. We’re going to take advantage of the few extra days that we have to ensure that we are very ready to open our doors to the community on June 4.”

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Liptak says the Advanced Ambulatory Care Service in Sylvan Lake will diagnose and treat urgent but non-life threatening conditions.

“Services that you might seek from your doctor’s office but you maybe need to do so in a bit of a more timely way or need a slightly higher level of service than your doctor’s office might provide,” Liptak explains.

Examples include sudden illness or injuries that require immediate attention, as well as X-ray and laboratory services.

Liptak adds that life-threatening conditions, however, are not appropriate for advanced ambulatory care and that people will still need to seek service appropriately in an emergency department elsewhere in such situations. 

“We continue to work very collaboratively with the community and the stakeholders there on this project,” Liptak notes. “Our key stakeholders are well-aware of the delay and are in the loop. It’s a great partnership that we have with the community in Sylvan Lake and I think that’s going to make it really successful when we do open our doors.”

Officials say work completed to date on the project includes construction of treatment areas, reception and triage spaces and an additional bathroom, as well as some minor renovations to the existing Laboratory and Diagnostic Imaging departments.