Interior Health is introducing changes to staffing at South Okanagan General Hospital’s emergency department in Oliver.
While the emergency room will continue to be open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, beginning April 1, a physician will be on call between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., instead of remaining on location for an entire shift.
During these nighttime hours, patients will be assessed by an emergency room nurse, just as they would during the day.
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For true emergencies or patients under the age of 17, the nurse will call in the physician.
Patients with time-sensitive, but less serious, conditions will be taken to Penticton Regional Hospital’s emergency department by ambulance or private vehicle, as appropriate.
Patients who can wait will be given the option to return the following day, schedule an appointment with their family physician, or continue to wait in the waiting room.
During daytime hours, a physician will continue to be on location at the emergency department for all patient visits.
Interior Health is calling this an “interim staffing adjustment,” but does not say when or if the changes will end, only that the arrangement will be closely monitored.
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