Peace Arch Hospital becomes third Vancouver-area ER to turn away some patients

On Friday, Peace Arch Hospital became the third Vancouver-area hospital to turn away non-urgent patients from the emergency department, a situation the province and health authorities have kept a closely-guarded secret.

In rural and remote communities, health authorities have notified the public that they may have to travel hours to find an open ED, but they have not done so in the densely-populated Lower Mainland where most of British Columbia’s population lives. 

 While the department is open, patients told CTV News that when they went to Peace Arch Hospital early Friday afternoon, a nurse greeted them at the door and was only allowing those with serious issues to continue to the triage desk, suggesting others go elsewhere for care in what’s known as a “partial diversion.”

Fraser health did not respond to questions about the situation until 10 p.m. on Friday and claimed screening patients and suggesting they go to urgent care wasn’t unusual.

Frontline doctors say otherwise, and point out others have to pick up the slack.

“This then overwhelms nearby hospitals, being Surrey Memorial,” said Dr. Claudine Storness-Bliss, an obstetrician-gynecologist at SMH and BC United candidate. “I would expect longer wait times tonight, probably closer to 20 hours or so when people are waiting in the emergency room.”

Fraser Health acknowledged that on July 23, Mission Memorial Hospital turned away all patients from its emergency department overnight due to a physician shortage, and the health authority refused to call it a diversion, instead calling it “service adaptations.”

Sources told CTV News the same thing would happen overnight on Friday, and. At 10 p.m., Fraser Health finally acknowledged that with a press release notifying the public the hospital ER would not accept patients starting at 11 p.m.

A whistleblower contacted CTV News about a similar issue in Vancouver Coastal Health, and that health authority reluctantly confirmed that on July 17, Lions Gate Hospital’s ED “was temporarily on a partial diversion” for several hours “due to an increase in the volume of patients seeking care” and only the most critical patients received medical treatment.

VCH doctors bail out Fraser Health

Multiple sources throughout Fraser Health have expressed concern that Mission Memorial, Peace Arch and Langley Memorial hospitals had significant issues finding qualified doctors to cover emergency department shifts through the summer, and the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation demonstrated just how close that hospital was to shutting its ED for an entire day. 

On Thursday afternoon, they posted on social media to notify the public that “Peace Arch Hospital will not be able to accept new patients at our emergency department” from 4 a.m. Friday, Aug. 2 until 7 a.m. Aug. 3. The foundation posted an update soon after that the diversion “is no longer set to take place.” The foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

CTV News has learned that Vancouver Coastal Health physicians were parachuted into Peace Arch Hospital, where they had never worked before, to keep the doors open. Sources emphasized that hospital management knew for months that there were several days in August where the ED had no doctors scheduled to work, but that nothing was done aside from offering the same pay guarantee as other struggling hospitals.

When they finally replied, Fraser Health did not deny this was the case and added, “the local emergency physician department is responsible for physician scheduling and works very hard to fill all shifts internally.”

On Thursday, Fraser Health offered an extra $500 per day for physicians to work at the ED, guaranteeing a whopping $4,625 for the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. 

Fraser Health silent on partial diversion

Despite several assurances they were looking for a spokesperson and working on a statement, Fraser Health still had not provided any information about physician retention nor the situation at Peace Arch Hospital by 7 p.m. on Friday.

When they replied later, they did not use the word “diversion” and insisted the ED was open, which was technically true, but also acknowledged “we work with patients who come to the hospital with low-acuity concerns to identify other options they may utilize to access care more quickly, such as UPCCs and Fraser Health Virtual Care.”

BC United issued a press release about the potential for diversions at the hospital on Thursday, and Fraser Health sent a statement at that time, assuring the public that “all emergency physician shifts at Peace Arch Hospital are filled for the BC Day long weekend” and that “service adaptations and patient diversions are only used as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted.”

“This is not unique to today. This is likely to happen again and again and again, especially over the rest of the summer,” said Storness-Bliss. “I don't want to be fearmongering, but if nothing changes, we are on the verge of collapse for smaller emergency departments.”