Hospital emergency departments close for more than 80 hours in one month

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Peace region residents in two communities were left without emergency medical services for more than 80 hours just in the first month of the year. 

During the month of January, residents in the District of Chetwynd and the City of Dawson Creek experienced multiple service interruptions at the Dawson Creek and District Hospital and Chetwynd General Hospital emergency departments.

The Chetwynd emergency department closed four times for a total of more than 73 hours. The longest closure was 62 hours, lasting from 6 a.m. on January 3rd to 8 a.m. on January 5th, and the majority of the closures were due to “staffing challenges”, according to Facebook posts made by Northern Health. 

This is an increase from December, when that emergency department experienced two closures for about 41 hours of interrupted services. One closure lasted from 7 a.m. on December 6th to 7 p.m. on December 7th and another brief interruption occurred between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. on December 31st. 

The emergency department at the Dawson Creek and District Hospital closed only once, on January 21st from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. for a total of nine hours. 

This is a significant decrease from December, when the emergency department closed three times in as many days for a total of at least 89 hours. 

For all closures, Northern Health posted either an advance notice prior to the closure or shortly after a closure started, encouraging residents to call 9-1-1 if they were in need of life-threatening emergency medical care.