A Lower Mainland hospital will be diverting patients away from its emergency department on Halloween night due to a physician staffing shortage. The so-called “temporary service interruption” at Mission Memorial Hospital will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and last until 8 a.m. Saturday, Fraser Health announced. During that time, there will be no doctors in the emergency room and nurses will remain on site to “support walk-in patients needing basic care, assist with re-direction of care, and/or transfer patients with urgent needs to a neighbouring hospital.” Other departments at the hospital will remain running. Anyone arriving at the ER before 5 p.m. will be seen by a doctor before their shift ends at 11 p.m., according to the health authority. “We recognize how important consistent access to emergency care is for the Mission community and we are actively working to address physician staffing gaps as they arise to maintain service continuity,” Fraser Health wrote in a statement issued around 1:30 p.m. “Should further service interruptions become necessary, we will communicate this to the community in advance to support our patients and their families in feeling informed and prepared.” The health authority said anyone experiencing a life-threatening emergency should call 911 for transport to the “nearest available and appropriate facility,” and warns that while the ERs remain open at other hospitals in the region, “high numbers of people seeking care and human resource challenges” may lead to longer wait times.
