Peace River South MLA hears community concerns about Tumbler Ridge Health Centre on-call cut

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — One of the Peace River region’s MLAs is sounding the alarm about changes to Tumbler Ridge’s emergency healthcare provision.

Peace River South MLA Larry Neufeld has travelled to the District of Tumbler Ridge to support the community in the wake of controversial changes by Northern Health regarding the community’s emergency department. 

On September 4th, Northern Health announced significant service reductions at the Tumbler Ridge Health Centre, specifically slashing its evening and weekend on-call hours “to provide stable and predictable daytime coverage.”

Previous to this change, while the emergency department was only open from Monday to Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., staff were on call overnight in the event of emergencies in the community. 

The MLA announced an event in a Facebook post, taking place in the same room as Northern Health’s emergency room closures town hall, on September 12th in the Tumbler Ridge Community Centre from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. 

The event was broadcast live on Neufeld’s Facebook page. 

“I know that there’s a lot of emotion in the community and I know that there are a lot of questions and concerns around what’s been happening,” Neufeld said as he opened the event. “…That really is the intent of today, is to allow you to express your concerns and make sure that you are heard.”

According to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, a medical doctor from the community and Mayor Darryl Krakowka was also in attendance to share information and listen to the concerns of the community. 

Neufeld says he has continued to pressure the Ministry of Health and Northern Health’s CEO Ciro Panessa regarding the health centre in Tumbler Ridge.

“I have made it clear; any reduction in service is not acceptable,” Neufeld said in a September 11th social media post. 

“People deserve stable, reliable healthcare close to home.”

Northern Health’s controversial announcement on September 5th was quickly followed by a death en route to the Dawson Creek and District Hospital on September 6th, and public opposition to the service change has been significant. 

Following a September 7th town hall, Northern Health announced it would consider the service changes to be temporary as it “continues community meetings” in Tumbler Ridge in a September 9th Facebook post. 

Residents continue to express their frustrations with the change in posts in Northern Health’s Tumbler Ridge and Area Facebook group, as well as turning out to the health authority’s September 7th and 11th town halls.