The emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt, B.C., will begin the week with a 25-hour shutdown, according to Interior Health. The ER closed at 7 a.m. on Monday and will reopen at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The health authority said patients can seek emergency care at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops during the closure, which is about an hour’s drive away. Anyone experiencing a life-threatening emergency is asked to call 911 for transport to the “nearest available and appropriate facility.” Interior Health did not provide a reason for the ER closure. Nicola Valley Hospital’s ER previously closed between the morning of Aug. 7 and the morning of Aug. 8, and again the evening of Aug. 8 to the morning of Aug. 9.
