Emergency department in B.C. Interior temporarily closes due to staff shortage
Another B.C. emergency department was forced to temporarily close due to a staffing shortage.
Interior Health posted a notice Sunday saying the Ashcroft Hospital and Community Health Care Centre had to close early on the weekend.
The emergency department normally operates only on the weekends from Fridays at 6 p.m. to Mondays at 8 a.m., but because of "limited staffing availability," the department closed at midnight Sunday. It's expected to reopen for its regular hours on Friday.
"Interior Health regrets this temporary change to normal operations," Interior Health said in a statement.
Anyone who required emergency assistance was advised to call 911 or visit Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, which is about a one-hour drive from the Ashcroft hospital, or go to the Nicola Valley Hospital, which is about a 75-minute drive away.
The Nicola Valley Hospital, in Merritt, faced its own staffing shortages last week. On Tuesday, Interior Health said the hospital's emergency department had to close for more than 12 hours "due to an unforeseen limited physician availability."
The closures came as health-care facilities across the province are dealing with severe staffing shortages due to the spread of Omicron. Some health-care workers in B.C. are also no longer working due to a vaccine mandate, though it's unclear if the mandate impacted the recent closures.
Nurses have previously told CTV News they now work short-staffed nearly all the time, saying some of their biggest concerns are of their ability to care for patients at the standard to which they’ve been trained.
"You can imagine working in constant fear that somebody is going to die because you cannot get there to give them the care that they require," said Paula Leweke, a veteran nurse and nurse educator, earlier this month.
Ashcroft's hospital has faced ongoing closures over the past several months. Since October, there have been at least four temporary closures of the weekend emergency department.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Penny Daflos
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.