A remote B.C. island community is anxious as it faces a two-week overnight closure of its local emergency room due to the ongoing medical staffing crisis across the province.
The closures at the Cormorant Island Community Health Centre in Alert Bay started Tuesday and will last until Aug. 16. The ER will be closed overnight from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
“Residents aren’t happy with the closures, and I think there is concern,” said Alert Bay Mayor Dennis Buchanan. “Two weeks, that’s going to present difficulties, for sure.”
The problem of staffing shortages in ERs is playing out not only in Alert Bay but at hospitals across the North Island region and the province, Buchanan said.
“We’re not going through anything different than Port McNeill or Port Hardy or certain other rural communities in the province, or across Canada, for that matter,” he said.
Ferries to and from Vancouver Island don’t run at night, so residents with medical emergencies will have to be flown out by helicopter or transported by water taxi, Buchanan said.
The ER in Alert Bay was closed sporadically in July but never for such a long period of time, Alert Bay resident Randy Govereau said, adding he’s particularly worried about the community’s elders.
“I think this is so scary,” he said. “What are we going to do if it gets extended or continues on further into the year? Or if there’s a big emergency?”
There is not enough nursing staff in the region to maintain safe, consistent 24/7 emergency services in the Alert Bay facility, Island Health said.
People experiencing a medical emergency should call 911.
The health authority and B.C. Emergency Health Services have protocols in place so patients are transported to an appropriate alternate site, Island Health said, adding minimum staffing levels are necessary to ensure patient safety.
Communities in the North Island have been working with Island Health and the regional district to find solutions to the ongoing issue, said Buchanan, who added lack of accommodation is adding to the problem.
Emergency rooms in Port McNeill and Port Hardy faced 12-hour closures this weekend due to staffing shortages. Patients are being diverted to the nearest open ER.
There are also reduced hours at the Chemainus Health Care Centre, with six full days of closures planned on Aug. 3, 10, 15, 20, 27 and 28.
Adriane Gear, vice-president of the B.C. Nurses’ Union, said the increased frequency of temporary ER closures in the North Island is a concern for community health in general but especially for an island community.
“It is more concerning, they’re more isolated,” she said. “It’s an island, so it’s not like people can just make the decision to drive off.”
Two weeks is a long time to go without overnight emergency health care, Gear said. “I imagine this was not a decision that was made lightly, but it’s not clear what changes in two weeks.”
An obvious worry is whether this is the start of a more permanent closure in the community, she said.
But some public transparency about the short-term game plan and whether the shutdowns will ease up as staff vacations end or new nurses are hired would help allay fears, she added.
