Evacuated patients and clients to be airlifted to care facilities

FORT McMURRAY – All acute care patients and continuing care clients evacuated earlier from Northern Lights Regional Health Centre will be flown this evening to Edmonton and transported to health care facilities, where they will receive the care they need.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) North Zone physicians and staff successfully and safely moved 73 patients and 32 continuing care patients out of Northern Lights Regional Health Centre, with the final four patients leaving the facility shortly before 7 p.m.

Those patients and clients are now being looked after at an oilsands site north of Fort McMurray, and are currently out of danger.

AHS has arranged to have a 737 plane airlift those patients and clients from the oilsands site. That flight is expected to take place late tonight.

Patients and clients are currently being cared for by their care teams, who travelled to the oilsands site with those people evacuated from Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

We are extremely grateful and proud of our AHS staff who have stayed with their patients and clients to care for them, despite their own personal situations caused by the wildfire in Fort McMurray.

AHS has capacity in other zones to care for the displaced patients and continuing care clients.

Our priority is always about ensuring our patients, clients and staff are safe.

AHS is continuing to work closely with our municipal and provincial partners to best support all residents of Fort McMurray – including our patients, continuing care clients and staff - impacted by the wildfires.

Please visit rmwb.ca for the most up-to-date information. You can also visit ahs.ca/wildfire. We will update that webpage as needed, bearing in mind the situation is changing rapidly.

As information is known, HealthLink (811) will be the place for family members to find out information on their loved ones.

AHS will continue to provide updates as they become available.

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