'Frustration and fear': B.C. MLA speaks out after string of northern ER closures

An MLA from northeastern B.C. is speaking out following a string of hospital ER closures in Fort St. John, the largest city in the region.

The temporary overnight closures at Fort St. John Hospital's emergency department began last Friday night, and have ranged from six hours to 18 hours.

As of Thursday morning, the ER has experienced a closure on seven calendar days in a row – each one blamed on "physician coverage challenges," according to Northern Health.

B.C. United MLA Dan Davies, who represents the Peace River North riding, said the closures have sparked "a combination of frustration and fear" in the community.

"People's lives are at risk here," he told CTV News on Wednesday. "People are scared. Especially now, the temperatures are pretty warm – you know, we have, certainly, an aged population here."

The Peace River Region has been under an Environment and Climate Change Canada heat warning this week, urging residents to be watchful of signs of heat illness that can "rapidly evolve into life-threatening emergencies."

The warnings also note there has been "little relief" overnight due to elevated overnight temperatures.

Each of the closures at the Fort St. John ER has occurred overnight, with some beginning in the mid-afternoon.

The emergency department was closed for six hours between Friday night and Saturday morning, six hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning, seven hours between Sunday night and Monday morning, 13 hours between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, and 18 hours between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

The department is scheduled to re-open at 10 a.m. Thursday. So far, no additional closures have been announced.

On Wednesday, Davies issued a public letter to Health Minister Adrian Dix complaining about the closures – and of an apparent lack of communication from Northern Health, which does not announce closures on its website, but on community Facebook pages.

Davies said there have been 150 such ER closures at hospitals across Northern Health since the start of the year, with community members sometimes only being notified hours in advance.

In his letter, the MLA said the closures have continued despite "many" conversations with provincial health officials urging a solution to the persistent staffing issues.

"We're not getting any results – in fact it's getting worse," Davies told CTV News.

CTV News has reached out to the Ministry of Health for a response to the MLA's concerns. This story will be updated if a response is received.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Yasmin Gandham