Summerside hospital going without overnight emergency surgeries again

People needing urgent surgery overnight at the Prince County Hospital in Summerside will have to be diverted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospitalfor the second time this month.

This time, any patient urgently requiring surgery will have to be sent to Charlottetown until 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2.

Health PEI blames a temporary lack of on-call physician coverage, as was also the case for a five-day interruption in overnight emergency surgeries from May 1 to 5.

A news release sent late Monday said all other services, including the Prince County Hospital emergency department, would remain open Monday and Tuesday nights.

The provincial government and Health PEI have been recruiting staff to stabilize service at Prince County Hospital, with the impending departure of two surgeons.

In the meantime, the Health PEI news release said,additional unfilled overnight on-call shifts are expected later in June and July.

"Every effort will be made to fill these shifts," the releasesaid.

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