Some B.C. hospitals have had to scale back emergency room services this weekend due to staffing shortages.
On Vancouver Island, the emergency department at Port McNeill’s hospital will be closed overnight, starting at 3 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. on July 17.
“Anyone experiencing a medical emergency should call 911 or, if possible, proceed to Port Hardy Hospital,” Island Health wrote in a release.
“Island Health and BC Emergency Health Services have protocols in place to ensure patients are transported to the appropriate site.”
In B.C.’s Interior, the emergency room at Ashcroft’s hospital is on diversion for the entire weekend.
Likewise, the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater went on diversion Friday night, marking the fifth time this month it’s had to scale back services.
People with urgent medical needs in the communities of Ashcroft and Clearwater will need to travel to Kamloops’ Royal Insland Hospital this weekend to see an emergency room doctor. In both communities, residents facing an emergency should call 911, Interior Health said.
Northern Health is also warning Hazelton-area residents that Wrinch Memorial Hospital could have to go on diversion in the coming weeks if nursing staff levels can’t be maintained.
— With files from Global BC’s Simon Little.
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