Residents of North Vancouver Island can breathe a sigh of relief after Island Health said it managed to find staff to cover emergency room (ER) shifts at the Port McNeill Hospital this weekend.
Concerns were raised on Thursday afternoon after a message was shared in a local North Island Facebook group saying that the hospital needed to find relief staffing, or it would face ER closures on Friday and Saturday.
If the ER were to close, residents would have to travel two hours to Campbell River, where the next nearest emergency department is located.
On Thursday night, however, Island Health told CHEK News it was able to find emergency shift coverage at the hospital this weekend, and that no emergency room closures will occur.
Staffing hospitals in the North Island has been an ongoing struggle for Island Health.
Last year, both the Port McNeill Hospital and Port Hardy Hospital saw multiple, sudden ER closures due to a lack of staff.
The situation prompted the province to invest $30 million into healthcare for the North Island, and also brought down ER services at the Port Hardy Hospital to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, instead of 24 hours, to more consistently fill shifts.
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