Temporary Partial Emergency Department Closure at Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital (07/14)

Alexandria, ON – Ontario is experiencing a sustained, system-wide pressure on emergency department staffing levels due to staff vacancies, COVID-related absences, vacations, staff fatigue and burnout. Emergency Department (ED) staffing pressures are being felt by hospitals across the country. These pressures were strongly felt over the course of the past few weeks and due to the unprecedented shortage of nurses at HGMH currently, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily partially close our Emergency Department.

In order to ensure HGMH has the staff to care for our patients, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily partially close the Emergency Department beginning July 15^th, 2022 at 6:00pm. This means the hours of operation for our Emergency Department are as follows:

8:00am to 6:00pm OPEN

6:00pm to 8:00am CLOSED

The current plan is to have this in place until August 3^rd, 2022, unless our staffing resources change to the extent that we can resume full operations earlier.

Our regional partners, partner hospitals and public health have been informed. Call 911 if you are experiencing severe shortness of breath, chest pain, severe bleeding or periods of unconsciousness. Drive to a neighbouring Hospital if you are experiencing less severe symptoms that still require immediate care. Call 811 (Health Connect Ontario) should medical advice be needed.   

We are actively working to recruit staff to reduce any temporary closures going forward and resume services to the community we serve. HGMH remains committed to providing safe and quality care to our patients.

This decision was not taken lightly, and we understand the challenges this may cause. Updates will be shared via our hospital website and social media platforms.