Northern B.C. sees 107 hours of ER closures in August

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Throughout August, communities in Northern B.C. experienced eight emergency room closures and diversions of Northern Health facilities. 

Emergency rooms in Fort St. John, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, and Fort Nelson announced temporary closures totalling 107 hours throughout the month, each lasting 11 to 29 hours at a time. 

This is a sharp decline from July, when communities experienced 22 diversions of medical services totalling over 317 hours.

Fort St. John and Chetwynd announced three emergency room closures, with all from Fort St. John due to ‘challenges with physician coverage.’ In total, the Fort St. John Hospital emergency department was closed for 39 hours throughout August, with the most prolonged lasting 15 hours and the shortest being 11. 

At Chetwynd Hospital, two closures were due to ‘challenges with physician coverage’ and the third to ‘nursing coverage challenges.’ All three lasted 14 hours, totalling 42 hours for the month. 

At the Dawson Creek & District Hospital in Dawson Creek, only one closure was announced for the emergency department, lasting for 11 hours and occurring due to an ‘unexpected shortage of physician coverage. 

Fort Nelson General Hospital only had one diversion of its emergency department, lasting 15 hours due to ‘challenges with nursing coverage.’

Tumbler Ridge Diagnostic and Treatment Centre in Tumbler Ridge did not announce any closures throughout the month of August. In July, the emergency department in Tumbler Ridge closed once for 29 hours due to ‘nursing staff coverage challenges.’