Northern B.C. faces over 317 Hours of medical diversions in July

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Northern Health facilities throughout Northern B.C. experienced more than 20 diversions in July alone. 

Throughout Northern B.C., 22 medical service interruptions occurred at Northern Health facilities in the month of July. 

Of those, 21 were experienced in an emergency department, and one occurred at the Fort St. John Hospital birthing centre. 

All but one of the emergency room diversions were posted to the relevant Northern Health area Facebook groups, and the birthing centre contacted patients through other means ahead of its 67-hour closure from July 19th to 22nd. 

The unannounced diversion occurred sometime on July 2nd or 3rd in Dawson Creek, and residents were left to discover the emergency room was closed upon their arrival. 

Another diversion, occurring in Chetwynd overnight on July 14th, was posted to social media, but no time range was provided. The emergency room was diverted due to ‘capacity challenges’ and reopened around 10 a.m. on July 15th. 

The diversions ranged from four hours to 67, and in total, residents experienced more than 317 hours of medical services diversions throughout the month of July.

Of those more than 317 hours, more than 250 were due to emergency department closures. 

Tumbler Ridge was the least impacted by emergency department closures, experiencing only one on July 10th and 11th, which lasted 29 hours and was due to ‘nursing staff coverage challenges.’

Fort Nelson experiences three diversions during the month of July at the Fort Nelson General Hospital’s emergency department, for a total of 55 hours of diversions. 

Most of these diversions were due to ‘nursing staff coverage challenges,’ with two lasting 14 hours and the third and longest lasting 27 hours. 

At the Dawson Creek and District Hospital, the emergency department experienced four diversions, lasting at least 40 hours in total over the month. One diversion was not announced by Northern Health and lasted for an unknown amount of time.

Two diversions lasted for 15 hours, and the shortest known diversion was 10 hours. Northern Health cited ‘challenges with nursing coverage’ for the three announced diversions. 

Fort St. John residents experienced six diversions. Five originated from the Fort St. John Hospital emergency department and one from the birthing centre. 

Physician coverage challenges were cited as the reason for all emergency department diversions and ‘staffing’ for the birthing centre diversion. 

The birthing centre sustained the longest diversion at 67 hours, while the emergency department totalled 50 hours of diversions throughout July. 

The longest emergency department diversion lasted for 18 hours on July 17th and 18th, and the two shortest were six hours each. 

Chetwynd sustained the most diversion at eight throughout July and 143 hours, all occurring at Chetwynd Hospital’s emergency department. 

One diversion occurred due to ‘capacity challenges,’ diverting the emergency department overnight for an unknown number of hours on the 14th. The department resumed services around 10 a.m. on July 15th. 

The longest diversion lasted for 32 hours from July 5th to 6th, and the shortest lasted four hours on July 4th.  

When announcing each diversion, Northern Health cited ‘physician coverage challenges’ for six diversions, ‘staffing coverage challenges’ for one, and ‘capacity challenges’ for one. 

On July 29th, provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix held a media briefing on Zoom to discuss emergency room closures throughout Northern B.C.

Dix explained that there was no single solution to avoid emergency room diversions and emphasized the province’s continued efforts to hire more medical personnel for Northern B.C.