Chetwynd Hospital ER closes again due to physician shortage

CHETWYND, B.C. — Northern Health has announced that the Chetwynd Hospital’s emergency department is closed on Monday — the ninth time services have been unavailable since mid-April.

According to a Facebook post from the health authority, the hospital’s emergency department is closed from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, May 27th, due to “physician coverage challenges.”

The hospital’s emergency department has seen a rash of diversions in recent weeks, including four consecutive weekends of diversions and one series of closures that saw it diverted for five evenings in a row.

Every single one of these diversions has been caused by a lack of doctors or nurses available to work.

During hospital diversions, the health authority said people in the Chetwynd area who need life-threatening emergency care should call 9-1-1 to the nearest available and appropriate facility. Patients requiring urgent care will be transported to the hospital in Dawson Creek, over an hour from Chetwynd.

In an interview on May 7th, Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier called the diversions “horrifying.”

The South Peace Division of Family Care, a group of healthcare workers from Dawson Creek, Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge, says it’s working to recruit and hire more doctors and nurses for the area.

The organization is also planning to turn Dawson Creek’s Eljen Healthcare Clinic into a “primary care hub” for the entire South Peace region, and it’s working alongside Northern Health to make it happen.