The Yorkton Regional Health Centre is in need of electrical upgrades. As a result, there will be service interruptions on October 13 and 27.
Between 3:30 p.m. on October 13 and 4:00 a.m. on October 14, the emergency room at the health centre will be unavailable, as will obstetrical services. Members of the public who need emergency care during this time period can call 911 for an ambulance.
Pregnant women should immediately proceed to Regina if labour begins between 6:00 a.m. on October 13 and 4:00 a.m. on October 14. If birth is imminent, they should proceed to the nearest hospital. Normal emergency obstetrical services should be restored by 4:00 a.m. October 14.
Healthline will also be available during the outage for nursing advice and persons may be advised to travel to the next closest acute care facility for assistance when appropriate. That number is 1-877-800-0002.
This service interruption covers the Yorkton Regional Health Centre alone, and other acute care sites will remain operational. The nearest emergency coverage in the area will be in Melville and Canora.
Patients will be transferred to other facilities in the region or in the Regina Qu'Appelle region during the service interruption, or will be discharged, depending on the patient.
Similar service interruption instructions will be in place for October 27, and will be released before the outage.
The work needs to be done in order to replace two transfer switches, which initiate the standby generator in the event of a power outage, and transfer back to normal utility usage after an outage.
"It has to be changed because it's old. The switches that were in there were from 1960, and we need to upgrade the technology to have full backup power," explains Suann Laurent, Interim Chief Executive Officer.
The shut down is the only way to do the maintenance, Laurent notes, and it is essential to ensure that backup power is reliable in the event of an outage.
"I want to thank the public, staff, physicians, ambulance services, and neighbouring health regions for their understanding and assistance during this essential equipment upgrade," Laurent concludes.
