The emergency department in Williams Lake closed for the first time ever overnight on Feb. 12.
Interior Health made the announcement just hours before the Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) was to close the ER from 8 p.m. on Feb. 12 until 6 a.m. on Feb. 13.
Interior Health cited physician shortages for the cause of the closure in their announcement on Monday afternoon.
Managers had been working up until the final hours to fill the shift, according to Diane Shendruk, vice president, clinical operations for Interior Health north.
“We did know that this shift was vacant but we do everything that we can to fill the shift, once we feel that we’ve done everything, that’s when we release a public service announcement,” she said.
Moving forward, she said there is full physician coverage for the emergency department until the end of February, after which there are still vacancies they are working to fill.
While closures of emergency rooms in other parts of the province have been taking place fairly often, this is the first time the ER in Williams Lake has had to shut the doors officially. One unofficial closure happened in October of 2023 when someone posted a sign in the window the department was closed “unless patient is imminently dying.”
READ MORE: Interior Health reviewing why ER closure sign posted at Williams Lake hospital
Other Interior Health emergency rooms at smaller hospitals serving smaller geographic areas like Merritt, Clearwater and Oliver have had closures.
Interior Health said on average 15 to 20 patients visit the CMH emergency department over the course of a night. One to three of these patients would be a higher acuity, said Shendruk.
The local health authority for Williams Lake serves an area of 12,030 km2 and CMH is the centre for more than a dozen First Nations communities.
Smaller communities, from Likely and Horsefly to the east and Tatla Lake and Alexis Creek to the west down to Dog Creek/Canoe Creek (Stswécem’c/Xgét’tem’) in the south all rely on Williams Lake for emergency health services. Those living in these communities would need to travel at least an hour just to reach Williams Lake, and now would need to go either an additional hour and 25 minutes to Quesnel or just over an hour to reach 100 Mile House. Tatla Lake is nearly three hours away from Williams Lake.
“We do know how stressful this is for the community and certainly the surrounding communities as well and we do everything that we can to try to mitigate this type of impact,” said Shendruk.
Support from BC Emergency Health Services, bringing in two additional staffed ambulances was coordinated in order to cover the overnight closure, with staff then able to determine which facility was most appropriate to take patients if needed.
Williams Lake’s emergency department is at less than 50 per cent staffing capacity by contracted staff, and has been filling vacant shifts with the help of locum physicians up until now.
Shendruk said CMH has been able to keep the ER open thanks to the dedication of the physicians in the community and the locum physicians who have been able to come and fill shifts.
“We’re really grateful for both those groups of physicians,” she said.
Visiting physicians have been able to fill in at the last minute in part thanks to the support provided by the community, which makes arrangements for incoming physicians such as accommodations and vehicle rental. This streamlining for locum physicians has made it more feasible to fill vacant shifts and obtain last-minute ER coverage.
Interior Health said the ER has staffing until the end of February, but again in March, there are still shifts which will need to be filled.
Shendruk said IH worked with BC Emergency Health Services and the 100 Mile House and Quesnel hospitals to ensure coverage in the area would be able to absorb patients redirected from Williams Lake.
Conflicts with management reportedly led to the departure of a surgeon in Williams Lake in 2022, which then also led to the loss of an ER doctor who was the surgeon’s partner. The departing surgeon was a renowned vascular surgeon, who had been celebrated for saving many lives due to his experience and skill level and worked in the community for nearly three decades. Another ER physician recruited by the couple also left the community after their departure.
READ MORE: Longtime Williams Lake surgeon resigns over Interior Health admin changes
Shendruk said Interior Health is continuing to make recruiting for Williams Lake a priority.
She said there will be three new physicians coming to the community this year through the Practice Ready Assessment Program, which brings internationally trained family physicians to be assessed in a community for a three-year return of service. One will start in March and two will start in September in Williams Lake.
Two other new physicians will be coming as part of the UBC International Graduate return of service program. One of these physicians started working in the community on Feb. 5 and another will start in August. One of these five doctors is interested in providing emergency department care.
There are currently 20 permanent physician jobs posted on Health Match BC for Williams Lake, three of which are for emergency medicine.
READ MORE: Williams Lake’s emergency department to close overnight Feb. 12
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