Glengarry hospital not fully reopening as planned

Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, Ont., continues to struggle with staffing shortages.

The emergency room has been partially closed for more than two weeks, and won't be fully reopening Wednesday as originally announced.

It will now be open 24 hours each day from Monday to Thursday.

From Friday to Sunday, no patients will be admitted between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.

"Given the extreme staffing pressures we have been experiencing, we are not yet in a position to open fully seven days per week," astatement issued Tuesday fromGlengarry Memorial Hospital said.

This plan, referred to as a"gradual resumption plan," is expected to be in place until at least Aug. 22, according to the statement.

Hospital administratorssay they will review "delicate staffing situations" on a daily basis.

"We remain committed to exploring all options to stabilize staffing, return to normal operations and to ensure the continued safety of our patients and staff. The hospital has been actively recruiting new nurses, working with temporary staffing agencies, welcoming nurses back from leaves of absence, and assessing alternate models of care to address the system wide health human resource shortage that we are experiencing at HGMH," said Robert Alldred-Hughes, president andCEO, in the statement.

On July 15, the day the partial closure began, managementquantified its personnel mandate by saying it was looking for 13 nurses, a figure which represents 30per cent of vacant positions.

The Alexandria-area hospital's challenges aren't unique in the health-care sector.

In July, the Perth campus of Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital was forced toextend itsoriginally scheduled closure offive days.

About25 Ontario hospitalswere forced to cut services over the long weekend due to staffing shortages, according to a provincial union that represents nurses.On Tuesday, Ontario Health MinisterSylvia Jonescalled the situation adisaster, saying she was trying to find solutions as well.