Back-to-back closures of small community emergency rooms on North Vancouver Island over the weekend is another example of the overall erosion of the primary care system in rural communities, the BC Green Party and the BC Nurses’ Union say.
Due to ongoing staffing shortages, the emergency room at Port Hardy Hospital was temporarily closed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. That closure took place hard on the heels of another temporary emergency department closure at the neighbouring Port McNeill Hospital from 3 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m Sunday.
Island Health recommended residents make their way to whichever emergency room was open in either community over the weekend, advising that BC Emergency Health Services had protocols in place to make sure ambulances transported patients to an open ER. The distance between the two communities is about 41 kilometres, and the closest regional hospital ER is in Campbell River, a 2.5-hour drive away.
