Betty Fraser, Chief Executive Officer, Kings Health Region announced today that, due to a temporary shortage of physician coverage, emergency room services at Kings County Memorial Hospital will be unavailable from Saturday, August 28, at 8 a.m. until Sunday, August 29 at 8 a.m.
“This is an unusual situation for Kings County Memorial Hospital,” said Ms. Fraser. “In this instance, two of the doctors had already left the Island for various reasons (including vacations and meetings), before we learned that our locum was not going to be able to provide coverage as we had expected.” Ms. Fraser suggested that patients who would usually visit the Kings County Memorial emergency department should go instead to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown or the Souris Hospital.
Kings County EMS Ambulance Service will station an ambulance at the hospital throughout the period of the temporary closure for emergency transport, and will keep an additional staffed ambulance on standby.
“We have endeavoured to find a physician to take over on Saturday, but on such short notice, this has been very difficult,” Ms. Fraser explained.
The emergency department will re-open on Sunday at 8 a.m.