The emergency room at Alexandria Hospital, Ontario. It will be closed overnight for the next two and a half weeks due to a shortage of nurses.

Glengarry Memorial Hospital announced it has made the "difficult decision" to temporarily close the emergency department from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily, starting Friday at 6 p.m. Patients can visit the emergency department between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Ambulances and patients will be directed either to Cornwall Community Hospital or Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, both about 30 to 40 kilometers from Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria.

The hospital said: "Ontario is experiencing ongoing system-level pressure on emergency department staffing levels due to absences, leaves, staff burnout, and COVID-19-related fatigue.

Hospitals across the country are feeling emergency department staffing pressures."

In the current situation. "We have strongly felt these pressures over the past few weeks, and due to the unprecedented shortage of nurses at HGMH currently, we have made the difficult decision to partially close the emergency department." Glengarry Memorial Hospital says the current plan is to keep the emergency department closed overnight until August 3.

This is the second hospital in Eastern Ontario to adjust emergency department hours due to staffing this summer.

The emergency room at Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital in Perth has been closed since July 2, with patients redirected to Smiths Falls Hospital.