The Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH) released a an update on social media yesterday saying they are aware that the Hawkesbury General Hospital (HGH) emergency room has closed until January 3, 2023 due to nursing shortages.
“The Emergency Department at CCH remains open and ready to treat those in need of care, however, wait times may be longer than usual.
When coming to the Emergency Department, please remember that patients are triaged based on the severity of their symptoms, which means the sickest patients are always seen first.
We ask anyone coming to the Emergency Department at CCH to please be patient, understanding, kind and respectful with our staff and physicians. Our teams are committed to ensuring that all patients will be seen by a physician according to the urgency of their symptoms.”
On their website, HGH Chief Executive Officer Frédéric Beauchemin, explains, “For the past year, we managed to keep the Emergency Department open because of the commitment and dedication of our nursing, medical and management teams. Unfortunately, this situation is not sustainable in the coming days given the challenges brought by the respiratory illnesses that continue to impact our community including our staff.”
HGH lists 11 neighbouring hospitals where patients can go in an emergency, including Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, Cornwall Community Hospital, Hôpital Montfort and The Ottawa Hospital.