Limited staff availability means an emergency department on northern Vancouver Island is closing its doors to the public for 48 hours starting Friday evening, according to Island Health.
The health authority says the Port Hardy Hospital emergency room will once again be temporarily closed, this time from 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19 until 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21.“If you’re having a health crisis, maybe you’re having cardiac symptoms or symptoms of a stroke or you’ve been involved in an accident and you’re injured, time matters. That’s why we have emergency departments,” Gear told CHEK News.
“The fact that people have to drive to another community is concerning,” noted Gear in an interview. “In some instances, it would be fine, but in those true emergencies, that’s really putting patients in a very vulnerable position.”The upcoming closure comes as staffing shortages plague other Island Health facilities, including Cormorant Island’s only emergency room located in Alert Bay. It’s seeing overnight closures until Aug. 31, two weeks longer than initially anticipated.
Island Health says all other inpatient services will continue as usual during the PHH’s emergency room closure, withCHEK NewsletterSign Up
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