The Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre’s emergency department has experienced three service interruptions in April.
Two back to back overnight service interruptions happened on April 4 and 5, and another on Saturday, April 20.
There was also an overnight emergency department service interruptions on March 24-25.
Eryn Collins, Northern Health regional director of public affairs and media relations, said, “There were no emergency department diversions on the weekends of April 13-14, and April 17.”
“As we’ve shared before, recent service interruptions at the hospital were due to challenges with the availability of nursing staff, not physician coverage,” she said.
At all times, Collins said that Northern Health encourages people in the community who need life-threatening emergency care i.e. chest pains, difficulty breathing, or severe bleeding to call 911 for transport to the nearest available and appropriate facility.
Any time services were interrupted, Collins stated that their partners in patient transfer and local health services were notified, and signage was placed at the hospital to inform patients to call 911 for transport.
Recently, Northern Health posted that, “Patients who aren’t sure whether their condition would warrant an emergency room visit, or who need health advice can call HealthLink BC - 811 for non-emergency health information from nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists 24/7. For deaf and hearing-impaired assistance, call 711.”
“We continue to do everything possible to ensure both nursing and physician staff coverage for upcoming shifts, and there are currently no anticipated diversions through the end of April,” she said.
The Northern Health Virtual Primary and Community Care Clinic can be reached by calling +18446457811 and the hours of operations starts from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.