Northern Health closes six ERs for 81 hours combined in one month

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Northern Health temporarily closed Chetwynd’s emergency room four times throughout September, as well as two other emergency rooms. 

In September, Northern Health-operated emergency rooms in the Peace River region and the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) closed six times for a total of approximately 81 hours. 

The Chetwynd General Hospital emergency department closed the most times and for the most hours, announcing four closures totalling at least 63 hours. 

The emergency room closed for 25 hours twice, from September 23rd to 24th and September 16th to 17th, as well as for 12 hours from September 11th to 12th and finally for approximately an hour on September 2nd. 

All the Chetwynd closures were due to staffing challenges except the September 2nd closure, which was due to an “unexpected service interruption” at the emergency room. 

The other two closures were experienced in Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek, and were also due to “staffing challenges.” 

On September 17th, Northern Health announced the emergency room at the Fort Nelson General Hospital would be closed for eight hours. And on September 15th, the Dawson Creek and District Hospital’s emergency department was closed for 10 hours.

In August, Northern Health announced four temporary emergency room closures at the Dawson Creek and District Hospital, the Fort Nelson General Hospital and the Chetwynd General Hospital, and a birthing centre closure at the Fort St. John Hospital. 

These closures totalled 63 hours of emergency room closures and 16 hours of birthing centre closures. 

In early September, Northern Health announced a controversial reduction in hours at the Tumbler Ridge Health Centre, slashing the weekend and overnight on-call hours and reducing them from 24 hours a day to only being available from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. 

Just days after the announcement, an individual from the District of Tumbler Ridge passed away en route to the Dawson Creek and District Hospital on September 6th.

In the weeks since, Northern Health has declared the changes to be temporary, and two open houses were held by the health authority on September 7th and 11th. The community has also organized two protests against the decision, one held during the September 7th open house and another planned for October 4th. 

So far in 2025, communities across the Peace River region and NRRM have suffered 35 emergency room and birthing centre closures for a total of 614 hours.