Dawson Creek man launches website tracking ER status across northern B.C.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Dawson Creek resident has launched a new website that tracks the status of ERs across northern B.C.

Romeo Macabuhay’s newly-created website ‘Is ER Open?’ monitors the status of hospital ERs operated by Northern Health in the Peace region, Northern Interior and northwest B.C.

According to Macabuhay, the website is designed to provide a clear, centralized overview of ER availability, information he says can be difficult to find during an emergency.

“The website basically has three main pages,” Macabuhay explained. 

“The home page shows an overview of all the hospitals that have emergency departments. When you select a hospital, you’ll see a deeper status, past incidents and you’ll also have the option to report an incident.”

He said community-submitted reports are not posted automatically. Any incident reported through the site is verified with the hospital before being made public.

The idea for the project came from a conversation with a pregnant friend and from Macabuhay’s own experiences during his wife’s pregnancy.

“When you’re pregnant, Northern Health will tell you to go straight to the ER if you are experiencing something,” he said. 

“But then you might receive a message saying the ER is not available that day. That creates worry.”

Macabuhay added information on ER availability is often spread across different Northern Health Facebook pages or groups. 

He said his wife pointed out to him that it can create problems for people visiting those areas.

“A family visiting Dawson Creek or Fort St. John might have an emergency and not be part of those Facebook groups,” he said. 

“They go to the emergency room and find out it’s closed, or they turn to Google and only see old news.”

In emergency situations, he said, people don’t have time to call multiple hospitals to confirm availability.

“That missing information in an emergency can be life or death,” Macabuhay said. “That really bothered me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

He said he began planning the website shortly after Christmas and officially launched it last weekend.

He also emphasized he has no ill feelings towards Northern Health.

“I’m really thankful to them, they took care of my wife when she gave birth, and we have amazing doctors here,” he said. 

“I know they’re trying their best to attract doctors and healthcare professionals to our region.

“[The website] is just something that I’d like to fill the gap while they figure things out.”

In 2025, ERs in northeast B.C. closed 46 times for a total of at least 628 hours. The most recent ER closure in the Peace region occurred on January 6th at Chetwynd General Hospital.

Macabuhay confirmed he has reached out to Northern Health to potentially collaborate on maintaining the platform and is awaiting a response. He is also looking for volunteers.