Overnight emergency room closures extended at Island Health-area hospital
Island Health says that overnight closures at the only emergency room on Cormorant Island will continue until the end of August due to a staffing shortage.
In late July, the health authority announced that overnight closures, between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m., would begin at the Cormorant Island Community Health Centre until Aug. 16.
Those overnight emergency department (ED) closures have now been extended to Aug. 31, Island Health said Friday.
Anyone who has a medical emergency while the ED is closed is asked to call 911.
"Do not go to the CICHC ED during the hours it is closed as this will delay your access to care," said Island Health in a statement.
The health authority says it has "protocols in place" to make sure that people are taken to alternate health-care centres while the emergency department is closed.
Island Health says it needs a minimum number of staff at each hospital to remain open, and that it currently does not have enough nurses to maintain 24/7 service at the emergency department on Cormorant Island.
"Island Health continues to work diligently on recruitment and strategies to secure additional nursing coverage, with the goal of resuming 24/7 ED services at the CICHC as quickly as possible."
Emergency room closures in rural areas of Island Health have become commonplace in recent months.
Last weekend, the emergency departments at Port McNeill Hospital and Port Hardy Hospital were closed overnight due to staffing shortages.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.