Shawville hospital halts surgeries this weekend

Surgeries at the hospital in Shawville, Que., are being halted this weekend in what the local health authority is calling an "exceptional" situation.

The Pontiac Hospital will have no surgeon on duty from 8 a.m. Saturday until the same timeMonday, theCentre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais(CISSSO) said Friday in a media release.

The 48-hourcessation means trauma patients will be taken instead to the next-closest hospital, while pregnant women requiring emergency caesarian sections will be transferred to the Gatineau Hospital.

"The absence of the surgeonis temporary and considered an exceptional situation," CISSSO said in itsFrench-language statement.

The halting of surgeries comes as the Pontiac Hospitalis also facinga summer nursing shortage, with midwives from Gatineau stepping in to help women in the small western Quebec community deliver their babies.

• 'They're really in a tight spot': Midwives cover summer nursing shortage in Shawville

CISSSO said an additional ambulance will be in the region this weekend to transfer any pregnant women requiring emergency procedures.