Protesters in northeastern B.C. this week are calling on the province to stop persistent ER closures, something that the health minister says is a big priority for his government.
Earlier this month, Fort St. John Hospital was closed for five nights in one week. It is the largest city in northeast B.C. and has 28,000 residents.
Northern Health confirmed that from July 22 to July 28, there was at least one emergency department service interruption per day in the northern half of the province. That equates to 15 service interruptions, where patients were forced to go elsewhere to receive emergency care.
The spate of interruptions at hospitals in northern B.C. has left residents with very few options, according to local politicians.
“People up here are afraid when [there are] no emergency services available in such a large area,” said Peace River North MLA Dan Davies from the B.C. United Party.
“[Fort Nelson is] four hours away from the nearest hospital. Rural residents deserve better, and we’ve seen a deterioration of services to our communities across British Columbia.”
He said that constituents reached out expressing their concerns, and that is why Davies is attending two rallies — happening in Fort Nelson Monday and in Fort St. John Tuesday — as another way to raise awareness about the issue.
“Almost at any given day, it’s either us here in Fort St. John or Fort Nelson, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge — one of those hospitals are almost always on diversion right now,” Davies said. “I’ve lived up here my whole life and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Davies said he’s written and reached out to Health Minister Adrian Dix has gotten no response, other than that things are fine, which Davies asserts is not the case. He hopes the rallies will change this.
Dix cites hiring spree
In a scrum on Monday, Dix said that he’s worked with MLAs from all political parties and has collaborated with communities on this issue.
“We fill the vacancies, and when we don’t you hear about it because there’s of course an emergency room diversion, and that’s a real challenge for us,” Dix said. “This issue is every day for me.”
He assured reporters that the province is recruiting and doing everything possible to deal with the situation, adding that five closures is five too many and that Fort St. John is a priority for the Health Ministry.
“We’ve broken records in terms of hiring nurses and doctors this past year,” he said, adding that recruitment is at the core of the province’s efforts to help the ER shortages and that it has added 620 seats to nursing training programs across the province in an effort to help alleviate strain on hospitals.
Daybreak North13:33B.C. health minister responds to ER diversions
Adrian Dix says the province is working on solutions for now and into the future.
He went on to talk about locum programs for rural communities and various alternative payment methods that are being used to help staff emergency rooms.
However, according to Interior Health, the month of July has seen 28 service interruptions — 10 of which were at Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, including one last week.
The Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt was also closed on Monday, and Mayor Mike Goetz said its ER has been closed 24 times in 2023 and 2024 — with costs being borne by the municipality each time. In response, he sent the province a bill for over $100,000.
“Pointing fingers is not going to solve the issue, but we have to look at what’s working and what’s not,” said Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen.
Hansen will be speaking at the Tuesday rally, and said that more notice about closures would be helpful because cancelling diversions would be easier on the community than constantly extending them at the last minute.
As of April 1, the province is offering nurses signing bonuses in the hopes of bringing much-needed help to the struggling health-care sector in rural areas.
“We want to get that information out so that if there is an emergency, people know not to take those precious moments going to a hospital that can’t accept them,” Hansen said.
The B.C. Nurses’ Union told CBC News in a statement that they believe minimum nurse to patient ratios to be the solution that will help retain and recruit nurses — relieving pressure on emergency rooms.
B.C. announced minimum ratios earlier this year, in six areas of health care, in a move that unions have said will help provide nurses with a quality work environment.
“We continue to hear of emergency rooms across the province left with such poor staffing levels they must close their doors leaving people with no choice but to drive long distances to seek health care,” they said. “Access to care should not depend on where you live.”