Alberta ERs, urgent care departments left without doctors more than 50 times this year, records suggest

Dr. Parker Vandermeer says he’s never been more exhausted as requests from throughout Alberta for him to staff rural emergency departments continue to pile up. 

“I’m more burned out than I’ve ever been,” he said. 

CBC News analysis shows why that might be. 

So far this year, Alberta Health Services has posted at least 52 news releases alerting the public that Alberta emergency rooms and urgent care centres were closed or relying only on nursing staff because there wasn’t a doctor available.

It’s just a constant drain. There’s always more work to be done. We always seem to be losing