Emergency rooms close for almost 30 hours in May
Emergency rooms in Dawson Creek and Chetwynd see three closures totaling almost 30 hours in the month of May.
DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — Two Peace River region emergency departments closed for almost 30 hours in May.
The Chetwynd General Hospital closed once throughout the month for 12 hours on May 27th, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Dawson Creek and District Hospital emergency department closed twice in May, once with prior notice and once unexpectedly.Â
The first emergency room closure was announced on May 12th from approximately 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. due to “unexpected and unavoidable staffing challenges.” The second closure, announced on May 17th, ran from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
According to posts by Northern Health on hospital-specific Facebook pages, all three closures were due to staffing challenges.
The three closures totalled at least 28.5 hours, which is a significant decrease compared to the month of April, when emergency departments closed for 76 hours in Chetwynd and Tumbler Ridge.
So far in 2025, Northern Health emergency medical facilities have closed 16 times across five hospitals for 272.5 hours in total.Â
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