Due to staff shortages, emergency rooms at five hospitals in interior British Columbia were closed over the long weekend.
In separate news releases, the Interior Health Authority announced that 100 Mile District, Nicola Valley, Lillooet, Cariboo Memorial and South Okanagan hospitals had temporarily suspended their emergency department services due to “limited physician availability.”
While most of them have now resumed their emergency services, the emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital is scheduled to reopen on Monday morning.
These closures are just the latest in a series of emergency care disruptions across British Columbia, a trend that Williams Lake councillor Scott Nelson said is becoming increasingly “worrisome.”
“Instead of (Interior Health) telling them when it closes, why don’t they just tell them when it’s open,” Nelson said.
He said the closure of emergency services in both 100 Mile House and Williams Lake has forced residents to travel to neighboring communities such as Quesnel.
“In our region, 10,000 to 15,000 people do not have a doctor and are therefore dependent on emergency room care.”
According to Interior Health, there were 28 service interruptions across the region in July alone – 10 of them at Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake.
In 2022, the emergency departments of 13 rural hospitals in British Columbia – including South Okanagan, Lillooet and Nicola Valley hospitals – were closed for a total of about four months.
Daybreak North13:33British Columbia Health Minister responds to emergency room diversions
Adrian Dix says the province is working on solutions for now and the future.
Last year, Nicola Valley Hospital closed more than 10 emergency rooms due to staff shortages. Merritt residents held several rallies to protest the closures and call on the British Columbia government to add more staff to the hospital.
In a previous interview with CBC News, Mayor Mike Goetz said Merritt’s emergency room was closed 24 times in 2023 and 2024 – with the costs borne by the municipality each time. In response, he said sent the province a bill for over $100,000.
The Ministry of Health acknowledged the challenges but stressed that emergency departments would only be closed as a last resort.
“We are in the midst of a challenging summer and holiday season,” the ministry said in a statement to CBC on Sunday. “Our frontline and health authority staff are working hard to fill shifts every day and we will continue to fight to keep emergency departments open.”
The ministry also pointed to broader efforts to address health workforce shortages across the province, with over 45,000 new health professionals hired since 2017 and a nearly $1 billion health human resources strategy launched in 2022.
However, the ministry cautioned that solving the problem will require time and sustained investment, saying it will work closely with health authorities to implement targeted strategies to avoid future closures.
