Rural Albertans are describing it as an alarming situation. The town of Oyen has no acute care beds in hospital and limited emergency depart
Dozens of Alberta Health Services sites are facing service disruptions. Many rural Albertans are calling it alarming and are demanding help.
Oyen, a town of about 1,000 people located 300 kilometres east of Calgary, has no acute care beds in hospitals and limited emergency department service.
“It’s pretty dire,” Conny Hertz told Global News. She’s a retired health-care worker in Oyen.
She and other area residents are pointing at AHS and say the community isn’t getting enough support.
The Big Country Hospital in Oyen is facing a major shortage of nurses. All 10 acute care beds in the hospital have been shut down, and since January, the emergency department started closing between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
“We have no acute care,” Heather Knapik said. “If you have a five-year-old child with pneumonia, they are sent 100 miles away to go to hospital. You have to get a hotel room and stay with them and not be with your family.” [...]
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