“it’s really kind of a bit of an exceptional situation with covid and it has really impacted our ability to effectively use the locums,” he said.
with the closures, belanger said they have tried to minimize the impact. in rocky mountain house, for example, the closure was overnight, not during peak times.
he said generally, if a physician were to become sick, a call would be put out locally, then throughout the health zone and finally provincially to ensure they are covered. but with covid-19 impacting locums, it’s harder to fill those positions, especially on short notice.
“i have to say the physicians have been terrific in rural alberta to cover each other and support each other, but there’s no doubt that covid is limiting people’s ability to do so,” belanger said.
belanger said in a situation like this, everything possible is done to make sure there is coverage. but if there is not coverage, they make sure patients know where to go to receive care.
“we have nurses in place that could redirect folks, or ems that could take care of an immediate situation and redirect folks to the closest community,” he said. “there is a plan that is put in place every time this happens.”
however, ndp health critic david shepherd said premier jason kenney did not take action that was needed and “without question” the closures of emergency departments could have been avoided.