HALIBURTON HIGHLANDS-Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) announced today that as of June 1, 2023, the Minden Emergency Department will close.
Minden and the surrounding community will have to access emergency services at the Haliburton site. Staff working in Minden will be transferred to the Haliburton Hospital according to officials.
“This was an evidence-based decision, which was made in the best interest of our community,” said David O’Brien, Chair of the HHHS Board of Directors. “Today is an important day for HHHS, because it means that we will continue to be able to provide the high-quality health services that Haliburton County residents and visitors count on.”
Officials say the on-going human resources crisis had a serious impact on operations at HHHS. The shortage of nursing and medical staff has meant that the organization has needed to take extraordinary measures to keep both emergency departments operating, which has required significant personal and professional sacrifices from staff according to O’Brien.
No jobs will be lost as a result of this decision and there will be more staff available to help create a more stable and effective staffing situation overall according to the hospital.
“We’ve heard from and are responding to the needs of our clinical staff, who are experts when it comes to patient safety and delivering high-quality care,” said Carolyn Plummer, President & CEO of HHHS. “This decision is about maintaining the safety of our patients, the sustainability of our services and the care our patients receive, and the well-being of our staff teams.”
HHHS will be launching a robust communications effort to ensure that permanent and seasonal residents, as well as visitors, are aware of this change before it comes into effect on June 1, 2023. This will include ample signage at the Minden site, as well as changes to highway signage throughout the County
