St. Peter’s Hospital in Melville is temporarily down 10 of its 30 beds.
Karen Earnshaw, vice-president of Integrated Rural Health with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said in a written statement that the hospital had temporarily shut down one-third of its beds.
According to the statement, affected SHA staff, management and union partners were notified in July of the bed closures.
The statement said the temporary measure was taken as a result of staffing schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff moving to other positions within the SHA and recruiting to vacant positions.
The recruitment efforts were successful but Earnshaw said the successful applicants coming from other facilities or from external sources will not be fully orientated to work independently until September.
The hospital is expected to return to normal operating capacity by Sept. 8.