'None of this is desirable': Emergency department in B.C.'s Interior reduces hours over 'limited physician availability'

The South Similkameen Health Centre in Keremeos, B.C., is seen in this undated image from Google Maps.

Vancouver -

Nearly a week after a vaccine mandate requiring most health-care workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 came into effect, an emergency department in B.C.'s Interior was forced to reduce its hours.

In a statement released Monday, Interior Health said the South Similkameen Health Centre in Keremeos is shortening its emergency department hours "due to limited physician availability."

As of that day, the department is only open between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Previously, the department was open until 7 p.m. and on Saturdays, with a physician on call the rest of the time.

Last week, the vaccine mandate requiring staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 came into effect. On Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said 3,325 health-care workers remain unvaccinated and are on unpaid leave. Of those, 1,018 are in Interior Health, making up five per cent of that region's staff.

Neither the health ministry nor the health authority said Keremeos health centre's hour reduction was because of unvaccinated staff, but Dix addressed the community directly while discussing vaccination during a news conference Monday.

"It's been a challenge in the Interior Health Authority," Dix said of vaccine rates, adding that two operating rooms in the entire region had to temporarily close due to shortages.

"There's some impact on lab times and responses and in communities such as Keremeos where a large percentage of a relatively small group of people in the facility there means that hours are being adjusted … none of this is desirable but it's necessary."

The Interior Health Authority says Keremeos residents requiring emergency assistance should call 911. They can also visit the emergency department in Penticton, which is about a 40-minute drive away, the South Okanagan General Hospital (45-minute drive away) or the Princeton General Hospital (50 minutes away).