Tumbler Ridge Health Centre on-call hours to reduce to ensure ‘predictable daytime coverage’

TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — The on-call hours for Tumbler Ridge’s medical facility are being reduced from this week.

Northern Health announced in a statement on Facebook on Thursday, September 4th, that while the Tumbler Ridge Health Centre’s emergency department’s (ED) regular hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. will be unaffected, its on-call coverage outside regular hours will be shifting.

Previously, patients who called 911 overnight would be met by on-call staff at the facility.

However, due to the lack of available staff in the district, on-call coverage will now only exist between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Northern Health representative Eryn Collins said outside of on-call hours, people should still call 911 directly in an emergency to be transported to the nearest available medical facility.

“The model has been that outside of those hours of operation, there are on-call staff available,” said Collins. “A call is placed to 911 [to] health centre staff. A physician or nurse meets the patient at the health center and assesses them and determines whether there’s a need for them to be transported to a higher level of care.

“Unlike other sites, [such as] when Chetwynd experiences a service interruption, their otherwise 24/7 emergency department is closed for a period of time. In Tumbler Ridge, a service interruption typically means there’s no on-call staff in the community.”

The post reads: “[Our] ED does not have 24/7 on-site staffing. [We] frequently experience disruptions to overnight on-call coverage due to staffing challenges.

“The shift will allow physician and nursing staff to provide stable and predictable daytime coverage for health centre services.”

The post from Northern Health says this will allow for “less potential for weekday interruptions due to having been called out for after-hours coverage needs,” and BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) will provide more ambulance coverage. 

Tumbler Ridge has seen diversions at its ED throughout 2025, including in July where services were diverted for 12 hours due to “limited resources.”

The diversion went unannounced, with Northern Health communications representative Arthur Williams stating it was unnecessary due to the facility being “just a triage centre.”