Staff shortages lead to temporary emergency department closures at 3 rural B.C. hospitals

At least three hospitals serving smaller B.C. communities shutteredtheir emergency departmentsthis weekenddue to staffing shortages.

Interior Health announced the closure of the emergency department at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater from9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Anyone requiring emergency care wasdirected toRoyal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, about 125 kilometres away from the town of 2,300 in the North Thompson region.

The hospital's ER has been closed four other times this month. District ofClearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell says such closures have become a "fairly regular occurrence."

"Despite many assurances fromInterior Health management that they would solve this, it just seems to keep on happening," he said Sunday.

Withsummer travel season about to kick off and thousands ofworkers on the Trans Mountain project in the area, it's a matter of time before there is an emergency, Blackwell says.

"Sooner or later, something's going to come up that's going to require an operating emergency roomand it's not going to be open at that time ... We have dodged so many bullets on this one up to now," he said.

Elsewhere in the province, Northern Health saidan unanticipated staff shortage led to the closure of the emergency department at Chetwynd Hospital in northeastern B.C. from Saturday evening to Sunday morning.

Island Healthclosed the ER atthe Port McNeill Hospital from Friday night to Saturday morning due to ashortage of nurses.

In a statement, Island Health said thereis a shortage of health-care providers nationwide, a problemthat is amplified in rural areas.

All three health authorities say they are actively recruiting staff.

Smaller communities, including Merritt, Ashcroft, Barriere and Elkford, have all had medical facilities temporarily closed in recent months.

Blackwell saysthe temporary closures in Clearwater could put additional strain on the hospital in Kamloops, whichhas dealt with staff shortagesas many nurses have reportedly left because of stress and burnout.

At a press conference on Thursday, Todd Stone, LiberalMLA for KamloopsSouth Thompson saidhe haslost confidence in Interior Health to meet the needs of Kamloops and the surrounding region.

"The situation at Royal Inland Hospital has been worsening over the last four to five years and it will continue to get worse if action isn't taken to make it better."