The emergency room at the Radville Marian Health Centre will be closed for the weekend, according to an alert issued by the town office. The closure will take effect at 8 a.m. Friday and go until 8 a.m. Monday. The reason for the closure was cited as a physician shortage. The closure is the fourth due to a physician shortage since the beginning of the year.
In late 2024, the virtual physician program was introduced in Radville by the Saskatchewan Health Authority to help reduce the number of closures due to a lack of doctor availability. The program allows for a nurse on duty to connect with a doctor via phone or video conference to help with the treatment of a patient. Radville is one of 20 centres in the province to have the program.
Earlier this month, the SHA explained there is still the possibility of a closure due to a physician shortage even though the virtual physician program is available. This is due to too many centres requiring the use of the virtual physician program at the same time, and a lack of doctors able to take on shifts using the program.