LISTOWEL-WINGHAM – Due to nursing staff shortages at the Listowel and Wingham hospitals, the emergency department at both sites will be closed for a portion of the weekend.
The Listowel Wingham Hospitals Alliance announced the closures in a press release on July 6.
The emergency department at Wingham and District Hospital will be closed from Saturday, July 9 at 5 a.m. to Sunday, July 10 at 7 a.m., and from Sunday, July 10 at 5 p.m. to Monday, July 11 at 7 a.m.
The emergency department at Listowel Memorial Hospital will be closed from Saturday, July 9 at 5 p.m. to Sunday, July 10 at 7 a.m.
This is the second such closure of the emergency department at Listowel Memorial Hospital this month. The department was also closed last weekend for a 14-hour span due to lack of nursing staff.
“These are temporary closures and we regret having to take this step,” state hospital officials in the July 6 press release. “All hospitals in South Western Ontario are experiencing staffing shortag-es, including nurses, physicians, laboratory, allied health and support staff. Hospitals are all working closely together to minimize potential service impacts as a result of shortages.
“We fully appreciate that this is disappointing for our community and staff. Trust that we are do-ing everything reasonably possible to return to normal operations.”
The hospitals are encouraging patients to call 911 if they have a medical emergency during these closures. Ambulances will remain available to the community and will be re-routed to surrounding hospitals.
The closest hospitals to Listowel are in Palmerston, Mount Forest, Stratford and Kitchener-Waterloo.
The closest hospitals to Wingham are in Clinton, Walkerton, Palmerston, Goderich and Sea-forth.
Patients seeking non-urgent health care are encouraged to call Health Connect Ontario at 811, which is available 24/7 for non-emergency health-related questions.
