You may have been ambushed by the sudden closure of the Emergency Department at Arnprior Regional Health Monday evening (May 29th).
A staffing shortage arose at the last minute.
Leah Levesque, President and CEO of Arnprior Regional Health cites a number of generic factors at play in the process of unaccustomed Emergency Department closures: a professional mass exit in the aftermath of COVID, illness, burnout and excessive overtime among them.
She notes ARH has worked with determination to avoid disruptions by prioritizing retention and recruitment, contracting community paramedics, using agency nurses, hiring clinical externs, and more.
Levesque is grateful to dedicated workers who put patient access and safety among their top priorities every day.
The ARH CEO says two recent overnight closures resulted due to unexpected staffing shortages- and while these cannot be avoided, she is committed to minimizing them.
In the event you show up at Emerg and find a sign on the door, it will most likely be directing you to the next nearest emergency department, which are: Almonte General Hospital: almontegeneral.com, Renfrew Victoria Hospital: renfrewhosp.com and Queensway Carleton Hospital: qch.on.ca
By Rick Stow
