Emergency departments and other hospital services have closed a record number of times in Ontario so far in 2023, according to a new Ontario Health Coalition report being described as “staggering.”

As of Nov. 24, there had been 867 temporary emergency department closures in the province this year, including more than a dozen temporary overnight closures at Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital, mostly earlier this year, and a handful at Almonte General Hospital, the most recent just in November. Arnprior Regional Health also temporarily closed its emergency department twice overnight, in May. All three hospitals are located outside Ottawa.