Hospital emergency department in B.C. Interior closed again

For at least the fifth time this month, an emergency department at a small hospital in B.C.'s Interior has had to close due to staffing issues.

Interior Health confirmed to CTV News that the ER at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater, north of Kamloops, closed at 9 a.m. Sunday and would remain closed until 9 p.m.

The closure follows several overnight closures at the facility earlier this month, including on May 10, May 14, May 15, and May 25. 

The facility is normally open 24 hours a day, and Interior Health has blamed "unforeseen limited staffing availability" for the recent closures.

"IH is actively recruiting staff to fill positions across the health authority, with special emphasis on areas like Clearwater," Interior Health said in an email to CTV News on Sunday.

When the Clearwater emergency department is closed, patients are directed to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, more than an hour's drive away.

Royal Inland has been having its own staffing issues, which a pair of Opposition MLAs highlighted last week. 

BC Liberals Peter Milobar and Todd Stone spoke publicly about their concerns over conditions at the hospital on Thursday.

"The situation at Royal Inland Hospital has been worsening over the last four to five years and it will continue to get worse if action isn't taken to make it better," Stone said, adding that staffing shortages have created what he called a "toxic workplace."

Stone shared data that was provided to him by nurses at the facility "on a confidential basis." He said he was told staffing levels in the emergency room were at 46 per cent during the day on Saturday, May 21.

Additionally, Stone said there was a callout to fill more than 400 shifts over the next month. As of Thursday morning, just 10 of those were filled by nurses, he said.

In a statement to CTV News Vancouver, Interior Health said it didn't have a breakdown of staffing in each department, but said Royal Inland Hospital as a whole was staffed between 76 and 78 per cent on Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week.

Other health authorities have had their own staffing struggles.

A wave of resignations in Northern Health is raising alarms among civic leaders in the region, who were already calling for a "comprehensive audit" of the health authority. 

And on Vancouver Island, a lack of family doctors has led to clinic closures and reduced hours at some facilities, and some of the longest clinic wait times in Canada. 

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Alyse Kotyk and Penny Daflos