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Surgery patients continue to be diverted from Red Deer hospital

Diversion program for general surgery only
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Some general surgery patients are being diverted from Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. (File photo by Advocate staff)

In a little over a week, 27 Red Deer hospital patients were diverted to communities outside of central Alberta for surgery.

On Monday Alberta Health Services said that some general surgery patients are being diverted from Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre to other sites to ensure they get the care they need.

Temporary surgery diversion began at 5 p.m. on April 29 at Red Deer hospital due to a shortage of clinical assistants who support the general surgery program, and a number of other factors.

“As of 10 a.m. on May 9, 27 general surgery cases have been diverted out of the Central Zone since the temporary diversion began on April 29. During the same time frame, 41 general surgery cases (both urgent and scheduled) have been completed at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre,” said AHS in a statement.

There were also nine general surgery cases scheduled for completion at the hospital on Monday, AHS said.

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“This diversion is specific to the general surgery program only at this time.”

AHS said depending on their condition, patients also continue to be diverted to other surgical sites within the Central Zone — including Camrose, Rocky Mountain House and Drumheller — or to facilities in Edmonton and Calgary.

General surgery can include conditions like appendicitis, bowel resections, laparotomies, and gallbladder removals. General surgery patients with scheduled procedures, emergency cases that cannot safely be transferred, and on-call coverage for existing inpatients will continue to be provided by general surgeons at Red Deer hospital.

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General surgeries being diverted from Red Deer hospital

AHS said in addition to the ongoing diversion, there was a brief gap in on-call coverage for general internal medicine on May 8, from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. No patients were diverted out of the zone during this time for access to general internal medicine physicians.

“Multiple teams are working together between sites to ensure as smooth a transition in patient care as possible and AHS is working hard to alleviate the challenges at RDRHC,” said AHS.

Efforts include ongoing recruitment to fill three general surgery clinical assistant positions at the hospital, as well as three positions for clinical assistants for anesthesia. Recruitment is also underway for cardiology and general internal medicine physicians, with additional physicians being sought for the Emergency Department as well.



szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com

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