May 5, 2023
DRAYTON VALLEY — Alberta Health Services and our continuing care partners are evacuating patients from the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre and residents from local continuing care sites due to the current wildfire risk. The health and safety of patients, staff and physicians is AHS’ top priority.
Evacuations began early this morning in the community, in partnership with continuing care providers. The majority of patients and residents have been moved already, with completion of evacuation anticipated this afternoon.
Acute care patients and continuing care residents have been moved to locations in Central and Edmonton zones. Many families assisted in evacuating their loved ones. For others, families of loved ones are being contacted directly to share patient/resident location information.
Where possible, staff and physicians have accompanied patients/residents to ensure care continuity. All moves are being coordinated with AHS EMS and municipal colleagues and include movement by ground and air ambulance, non-ambulance transport vehicles and municipal vehicles like buses.
Due to the evacuation order in place for the community, all appointments with laboratory services, diagnostic imaging, mental health and public health are postponed at this time. Clients will be contacted to be rescheduled as soon as possible.
We are extremely grateful for our frontline teams, staff and physicians who have come together to support the response across AHS and especially those whose families have been evacuated as well.
We continue to work closely with our municipal and provincial partners, and continue to monitor the wildfire and plan our ongoing response.
AHS has response plans in place if other communities, AHS facilities, patients and families across the province are affected by the wildfires occurring in Alberta.
If you have an emergency, please call 911.
AHS has resources in place to support staff and residents. These include:
