Airdrie urgent care avoids closure amid doctor shortage

Airdrie’s urgent care centre avoided an hours-long closure Monday morning, despite an earlier statement from Alberta Health Services that the facility would be forced to shutter due to a doctor shortage.

In a new statement, AHS confirms the centre was able to secure coverage.

“Following public notification of a potential temporary closure, Airdrie Urgent Care Centre remained open early Monday morning after physician coverage was secured. Patient care was not interrupted, and the UCC continues to operate 24/7,” a tweet posted Monday morning reads.

Following public notification of a potential temporary closure, Airdrie Urgent Care Centre remained open early Monday morning after physician coverage was secured. Patient care was not interrupted, and the UCC continues to operate 24/7.

— AHS_CalgaryZone (@AHS_YYCZone) March 6, 2023

However, while the centre was able to stay open, the city says there was about an hour when there was no physician on site.

Sunday evening, AHS told CityNews the facility would be closing from 2 a.m. until 7 a.m. Monday due to what it called a “gap in physician coverage.”

“This is a temporary measure. Nursing staff will remain at the site to provide emergency care and triage patients to other facilities in surrounding communities as required,” AHS said in a statement.

The health authority urged anyone in need of emergency care to call 9-1-1, noting that EMS calls would be “re-routed to surrounding facilities.”

Last week, Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping unveiled a record amount of funding for healthcare ahead of the provincial budget.

“Pressures in the health-care system still remain but Alberta is on the right track to build a stronger, publicly funded health system that is more accountable and more responsive to patient needs,” he explained.

The budget also included millions of dollars to hire and train new health-care workers, along with millions to help fund a new regional health centre for people in Airdrie and north-Calgary.

Last summer, AHS closed the centre overnight on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays for a period of eight weeks because of a similar shortage, with many in the region calling the situation unacceptable.

“We’re concerned about all of these hospital closures. If you go look at the map of the summer closures across Alberta and a lot of the more rural communities we’re seeing ER Urgent Care Centre closures, we’re seeing all sorts of closures due to short staffing,” Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, said last July.

Related articles: 

• Airdrie urgent care closures due to physician shortage

• ‘Unacceptable’: Airdrie’s mayor says urgent care centre closure a step backward

• Alberta budget to include $2B for primary healthcare

The city’s mayor also expressed frustration at the situation, saying the Airdrie centre serves various communities outside of his own.

“The province keeps telling us to be patient. To be honest, we’ve been patient long enough,” Mayor Peter Brown said on July 22, 2022.

-With files from Lisa Grant

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the urgent care centre was able to stay open, despite an earlier statement from AHS that said the facility would have to close.