Health services resuming in Drayton Valley following wildfire evacuation

DRAYTON VALLEY – As residents return to Drayton Valley following evacuation due to wildfires, health services are resuming to serve the community.

As of 7:30 a.m. on May 17, the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre Emergency Department (ED) has re-opened to provide emergency care for those who need it. Beginning May 19, five of the site’s acute care beds will reopen for admissions, with other beds to reopen in stages starting next week to support the return of patients and residents who were previously evacuated from the site.

Appointments with laboratory, diagnostic imaging, mental health, dialysis and public health are also resuming over the coming days. This includes urgent CT and ultrasound appointments resuming today with patients being contacted directly to have appointments booked. Other services coming online include:

• May 18
  • Home Care clients can contact the Home Care office at 780-621-4933 to have scheduled visits resume.
  • Addiction and Mental Health crisis services resume. If you need urgent support, call the Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642.
• May 19
  • All routine, non-urgent CT and ultrasound appointments resume.
  • Dialysis appointments resume. Patients are being contacted directly to transition their care back from other facilities.
• May 23
  • Community lab collection appointments resume.
  • All other Addiction and Mental Health services, including initial assessments and intakes, resume.
• May 24
  • Public Health immunization services resume. Clients who had appointments impacted due to the evacuation can call the Community Health Centre at 780-542-4415 to rebook.
  • The Community Cancer Centre will resume treatment services. The Cancer Centre Transition Team will work directly with patients to transition appointments back to the community.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) continues to work on the return of patients and continuing care residents who were evacuated from the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre on May 4. These patients and residents remain safe in alternative facilities at this time. Their moves back to Drayton Valley will be carefully coordinated in the days ahead and their families will be notified when move dates are confirmed. Residents of Serenity House will also be moved back to the community by AHS as part of the LTC resident moves.

AHS is extremely grateful for its frontline teams, staff and physicians who have come together to support the wildfire response across the province. We are also appreciative of our community partners and volunteers who continue to support our patients and residents while they are temporarily displaced.

AHS provides wildfire resources for Albertans at AHS.ca/wildfire, including mental health, air quality, and emergency planning links.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Our mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans. Our current focus is on reducing emergency department wait-times, improving EMS response times, increasing access to surgeries, and improving patient flow.