Temporary ER Closures at Fort St. James Hospital
Fort St. James, B.C. – The emergency room at Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James will be closed for eight days this month.
Northern Health blames the closures on the unexpected cancellation of coverage by a locum physician.
“The locum was covering for a permanent physician currently on leave for unexpected personal reasons,” says Northern Health. “Northern Health supports our staff and physicians, including locums, if they require time off for personal reasons as we understand unanticipated challenges arise from time to time. We ask for the communities support for the temporary measures that will be implemented.”
The emergency room closures are as follows:
May 7, 7am- 4pm
May12, 7am- 4pm
May14, 7am- 4pm
May 23, 7am- May 25, 7am
May 26, 7am- 4pm
May 28, 7am – 4pm
Northern Health says the emergency room is the only department affected by these closures and note the rest of the hospital will remain open to patients.
Acute care patients will be discharged or transferred to another hospital based on their care needs while Northern Health is working with BC Ambulance Service to manage care during the closures.
Those requiring emergency care can call 9-1-1 for transport to emergency room service in Vanderhoof or Prince George.
Comments
Northern health…what a joke they are
It’s only a joke because of a lack of leadership in Victoria .
Northern health and all the rest in the province have built massive bureaucratic infrastructures, were the left hand has no concept of the right. They cost the heath care system over 100 million a year to operate, never mine delivering care. Its an administrative nightmare and will only get worse. With every problem they hire more PR firms and more HR employees and even more general administration. This is out of control,
Northern and remote communities anywhere Canada has the same problem. The young and new doctors all want to work in the big centers, and working in places like Ft St James becomes less favorable. It takes a special kind of person to want to work in small communities like Ft St James and every once in a while the lap coverage will become short and exposed.
NHA is doing all it can to attract doctors into these communities but it is not an easy task.
Maybe the deal to offer the doctors to any community under 8,000 people is, first, second and third year in the communities, NHA will pay 15% of the student loan off for each year served. fourth year 25% and the fifth year 30%. Gets the doctors into smaller centers. Some will choose to stay in the communities.
In communities between 8k to 20k, the offer is to pay down 60% of the loan. Some incentive to attract new doctors is key.
I would not be in a rush to call down NHA so quickly.
He spoke.. My lady used to work for northern health.. It’s a joke..
I seriously hope that there are planes and choppers on contract to move patients from the Fort to PG or Vancouver. It’s absolutely ridiculous in this day and age to leave communities such as this without acute patient care.
Who is the boss at NIH and why haven’t they been replaced. Bet that guy who believes there are no patients kept in hallways at UHNBC is still there.
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