Lillooet ER closed until Tuesday

More B.C. hospitals had their emergency departments temporarily shut down Sunday due to staffing issues, including in Lillooet, where the ER will be closed for more than 48 hours.

Emergency care will be unavailable at Lillooet Hospital and Health Centre from 7 a.m. Sunday to 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to Interior Health.

In a notice to residents, the health authority told anyone needing care to instead go to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, which is an approximately two-hour drive away.

Inpatient care will continue as normal at Lillooet Hospital, the health authority added.

As always, the health authority advised anyone experiencing a life-threatening emergency such as chest pain, difficulty breathing or severe bleeding to call 911 “for transport to the nearest available and appropriate facility.”

The other emergency department disruption on Sunday was at the South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, where the ER was closed from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. During that time, patients were told to go to Penticton Regional Hospital, a roughly 40-minute drive north.

Sunday morning’s ER closure in Oliver came after it had been open for less than 24 hours, having been shut down between 1 p.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Saturday. Other hospitals hit by closures this weekend included Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt, which shut down for 24 hours, and Mission Memorial Hospital in the Lower Mainland.

A lack of available physicians was cited as the reason for all of the ER closures.