SORC
In Progress
Temporary Emergency Department Service Disruptions in Alberta: A Retrospective Archive-Based Analysis of Burden, Distribution, and Stated Causes, 2021–2026
Tung A, Nguyen V, Zhang M et al.
Abstract
Background
Temporary emergency department (ED) service disruptions in Alberta are publicly posted by Alberta Health Services (AHS), but their cumulative burden has not been systematically reconstructed. We quantified publicly documented ED disruption burden in Alberta using archived public records.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective descriptive study of AHS ED service disruption postings from August 1, 2021, to May 31, 2026. Records were identified from archived service-disruption snapshot pages and the AHS news/notice archive. Duplicate captures were collapsed, and repeated, extended, overlapping, or continuous same-site ED disruptions were merged into site-level episodes. Public wording was used to reconstruct disruption intervals, which were clipped to the study window and overlap-adjusted within site-year to estimate annual disruption hours. Notice-derived records were checked against snapshot-derived records to avoid duplicate counting. Source-supported manual intervals were added where routine parsing missed or undercaptured a disruption. Reconstructed intervals were manually reviewed by one author, with targeted second-author review.
Results
The final dataset contained 630 disruption episodes, 656 episode-years, and 154,074.7 total disruption hours. Full-calendar-year episode-years ranged from 114 to 187 annually. Disruption hours peaked in 2023 at 38,896.3 h and remained high in 2024 and 2025, with 36,280.2 h and 31,088.2 h, respectively. The highest overall burdens occurred in Consort, Hardisty, Boyle, Grimshaw, and Two Hills.
Conclusion
Public AHS records document a sustained, geographically concentrated burden of ED service disruption in Alberta. Standardized public reporting of disruption timing and reasons would improve surveillance and help identify communities with recurrent ED access instability.
SORC
In Progress
Rural Maternity Service Instability in Alberta: An Archive-Based Analysis of Publicly Posted Hospital Service Disruptions
Tung A, Nguyen V et al.
Abstract
Background
Rural maternity care depends on the reliable coordination of local hospital, surgical, anesthesia, and maternity backup capacity. Alberta Health Services (AHS) publicly posts temporary hospital service disruptions, but the cumulative burden of publicly documented maternity-related disruptions has not been described. We characterized these disruptions across Alberta using archived public records.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective descriptive study of AHS temporary service disruption postings from August 1, 2021, to May 31, 2026. Records were identified from archived active-disruption snapshot pages and the AHS news/notice archive. We included postings that explicitly affected maternity care, labour and delivery availability, caesarean or operative maternity capability, epidural access, or maternity backup. Records were standardized by site, deduplicated into site-level episodes, classified by affected capability, and reconstructed into dated intervals. Earlier reopening notices or later postings were used to truncate intervals when they documented return of service. Overlapping intervals at the same site were unioned to estimate site-level disruption hours. Capability layers were not mutually exclusive.
Results
The dataset included 504 site-level maternity disruption episodes and 558 episode-year records across 45 sites. Total unioned burden was 384,803.2 site-level disruption hours. Annual burden was highest in 2022 at 92,570.5 h and remained substantial through 2025 at 74,182.8 h, with partial-year totals of 26,871.0 h in 2021 and 29,123.0 h through May 2026. By capability layer, maternity/labour and delivery unavailability accounted for 257,528.8 h, operative/caesarean capability unavailability for 176,594.0 h, epidural unavailability for 30,994.7 h, and other named maternity disruptions for 13,448.5 h. The highest-burden sites were Sundre, Rimbey, Three Hills, Slave Lake, and Westlock.
Conclusion
Publicly posted AHS records show recurrent and sustained disruptions in local maternity capability across multiple rural and regional Alberta sites. Several high-burden sites reflect long posted suspensions, including intervals already active at the archive start and therefore left-censored. Reporting by affected capability, rather than only complete service closure, better reflects the operational changes that may affect local access to delivery care and can help identify sites needing closer review of maternity, anesthesia, and operative-delivery coverage.