'Limited staffing availability' closes North Island emergency department again

Port McNeill Hospital on northern Vancouver Island is shown.

A hospital on northern Vancouver Island has been forced to temporarily close its emergency department this weekend due to a lack of available staff.

Port McNeill Hospital's emergency room will be closed from 3 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday, according to a statement from Island Health.

The health authority attributed the closure to "limited staffing availability," a problem that has prompted closures at the hospital before. 

Other inpatient services will continue at Port McNeill Hospital during the emergency department closure. Those requiring emergency care will be directed to Port Hardy Hospital, according to Island Health.

"Island Health and BC Emergency Health Services have protocols in place to ensure patients are transported to the appropriate site," the health authority said in its statement.

"Island Health acknowledges this is not an ideal situation for the community and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience experienced by this temporary service reduction."

Port McNeill Hospital is far from the only facility in B.C. or on Vancouver Island experiencing a staffing crunch.

At least two other emergency departments – both of them in the Interior – faced temporary closures this weekend.

The emergency department at Ashcroft Hospital and Community Health Care Centre in Ashcroft, B.C., is typically only open on weekends from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

This weekend, it's closed, according to a statement from Interior Health, which advises patients to head to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, 97 kilometres away.

That's also where patients who would normally seek treatment at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital emergency department in Clearwater were directed to go from 6 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. The latest overnight closure in Clearwater was the third one caused by a lack of staff this week.

The twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and record-breaking numbers of toxic drug overdoses have put increasing strain on the province's health-care system.

Earlier this year, a poll from the Hospital Employees Union suggested one in three B.C. health-care workers are likely to leave the profession in the next two years due to stress and burnout. 

While the provincial Ministry of Health has touted its efforts to recruit, hire and retain more physicians and improve access to care in B.C., Premier John Horgan and other provincial leaders have also called for more funding for health care from the federal government.