Northern Health emergency rooms close four times in one month

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Emergency rooms were closed four times last month by Northern Health in three communities across the Peace River region.

Northern Health announced two emergency room closures at the Chetwynd General Hospital, one at the Tumbler Ridge Health Centre and one at the Dawson Creek and District Hospital during October.

In Tumbler Ridge, the Tumbler Ridge Health Centre’s emergency department was closed on October 16th due to “staffing challenges” for the entire day. The emergency room’s regular hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with on-call coverage from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. 

On October 29th, the Chetwynd General Hospital emergency department closed at 9:50 a.m., reopening by 1:30 p.m. the same day. No reason was specified for the closure.

Earlier that month, Northern Health initially closed Chetwynd’s emergency department for 12.5 hours from 6:30 p.m. on October 8th to 12 a.m. on October 9th. The closure was later extended to 7 a.m. on October 9th, with the health authority explaining it was due to “staffing challenges.” 

In Dawson Creek, the emergency room at the Dawson Creek and District Hospital was closed from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on October 2nd.  

The Fort St. John Hospital birthing centre also closed twice in October, due to “staffing shortages.” The centre was closed from 12:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on October 29th and midnight to 7 a.m. on October 30th. 

In September, Northern Health announced 81 hours of emergency room closures and 16 hours of birthing centre closures.

Emergency rooms across the region closed for approximately 37.9 hours in October in total.

So far in 2025, Northern Health has announced approximately 39 emergency room closures totalling just under 652 hours. The Fort St. John Hospital’s birthing centre has also closed for at least 29.5 hours over three diversions.