‘Unprecedented’: Nearly 200 ER closures in two B.C. health regions this year

There's growing worry that lives are being put at risk by the lack of emergency health care in some B.C. communities.

There are growing concerns over lives being put at risk over the lack of emergency health care in some B.C. communities, say local health authorities.

Interior and Northern Health combined have seen close to 200 temporary emergency room closures just this year.

On Tuesday evening, Interior Health issued a statement announcing the closure of the Lillooet Hospital and Health Centre from 7 p.m. Tuesday until 8 a.m. Wednesday,

Patients can access care in Kamloops at the Royal Inland Hospital in the meantime, it recommended.

It marked the latest in a series of closures at the hospital, in addition those at the ER at Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre in Burns Lake, which has faced 30 closures since January.

“This is unprecedented here as far as closures go,” said Village of Burns Lake Mayor Henry Wiebe.

“People are worried. The seniors especially are worried,” he explained.

The next closest emergency room is an hour-and-a-half drive away in Vanderhoof.

“When we have the diversions, that puts an extra load on the Vanderhoof and Smithers ER’s, which then it’s just a domino effect from there,” said Wiebe, who said he recently met with B.C.’s health minister.

Northern Health alone has seen 125 temporary emergency room closures this year, 38 of them at Mackenzie and District Hospital.

“Emergency department service interruptions are always a last resort, when all options to keep the ER open have failed,” Northern Health said in an email to CTV News.

In Interior Heath, there’s been a total of 65 closures this year, including 31 in Lillooet. And there’s more expected.

“The shortage of health professionals locally, and nationally, does continue to impact a number of our emergency departments, and although we are successful at filling many vacant shifts, we do anticipate service interruptions will continue to occur,” Interior Health said in an email to CTV News.

“When we have a closed sign on the door and you have a huge distance between communities, the risk to patients is significant. So how do we keep that door open?”, asked Paul Adams of the BC Rural Health Network.

Adams said instead of shutting down ER’s, at least for the short-term, the province should ensure there are paramedics or other healthcare workers at hospital emergency rooms.

“If it requires a reduction in the care to be provided within that place, it’s better to be reduced care than no care,” Adams said.

B.C.’s health minister said she’s looking at both long and short-term solutions.

“We are at work right now looking at how to better address emergency room shortages in particular,” said Health Minister Josie Osborne.

“Again, I come back to the need to train and recruit more physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers. But also looking at scopes of practise and the way people come together in emergency rooms,” she said.

“We’ve added two physician assistants at Saanich Peninsula Hospital over on Vancouver Island as one way of extending the services that emergency rooms can provide. We’re going to continue to do everything that we can to expand that,” the minister explained.

Meanwhile, Adams said the minister should review the provincial privileging system for doctors, which allows them to work in specific hospitals. He said it is duplicative and has become an obstacle for doctors who might otherwise take on additional ER shifts in rural hospitals.

Emergency room closures are less frequent in the Lower Mainland, but they do happen. There have been three temporary service interruptions at Mission Memorial this year and two at Delta Hospital.

“When a physician gap is identified, we work hard until the very last moment to fill it before we implement our temporary service interruption protocol,” said an email from Fraser Health.

“Our efforts to fill shifts, and prevent emergency department service interruptions, are almost always successful,” the email read.

The Ministry of Health told CTV News in an email that, “In the first quarter of 2025, BC has seen a 26% decrease in ER closures (total hours) compared to the same period in 2024.”

But for those living in communities facing ongoing closures, it certainly doesn’t feel that way.