South Calgary Health Centre urgent care to close early every day

The Urgent Care Centre (UCC) in South Calgary Health Care says it’s changing its patient intake hours from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. as of Tuesday.

The hospital will not accept any new patients after 8 p.m. and anyone still there at that time will “be treated according to their needs.”

This is related to staff shortages and workforce challenges in the industry.

The UCC says during busy days, patients will be redirected or transferred to nearby healthcare facilities — if it’s safe to do so — up to two hours before closing.

Patients are asked to go to the hospital in advance before the closing time at 8 p.m. to allow health care workers to investigate, treat, and discharge effectively.

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Also, patients that do not require urgent care after 8 p.m., are asked to look at different options, such as booking an appointment with their family doctor, visiting a walk-in clinic or a different urgent care centre.

In case of an emergency, people can go to the nearest urgent care centre, or call 911. They can also call 811 to speak to a registered nurse anytime for best medical options.

Other public health services provided at the centre “will remain unaffected.”