Number of hours of northeast ER closures declines year-on-year in January, with Chetwynd ER shut twice

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Northern Health reported two emergency room closures, both in Chetwynd, during the first month of 2026. 

On January 6th, the Chetwynd General Hospital emergency room closed from 8:40 p.m. on January 6th to 4 a.m. on January 7th without giving a reason for the closure. 

The emergency department closed again for an hour and a half on January 24th from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., with the health authority citing “staffing challenges” as the reason for the closure.  

This compares to five emergency room closures in northeast B.C. in January 2025 – four in Chetwynd and one in Dawson Creek, totalling 82 hours of closures.

In January 2026, Northern Health launched a webpage to track and report the status of emergency rooms and health centres throughout the region, which is intended to complement the health authority posting about closures in area-specific Facebook groups. 

Last year, Northern Health-operated emergency rooms and health centres in the northeast closed for more than 600 hours.