The short-staffed Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre emergency department closed again on Aug. 8 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
There were also closures on Aug. 5, Aug. 2, July 15 and July 13, as well as eight closures in June, according to Northern Health's Facebook page for the 亚洲天堂 Lake area. The emergency department, which has closed dozens of times in 2025, does not have enough doctors to remain constantly open, Northern Health has said previously. Two new doctors arrived in 亚洲天堂 Lake and began practising in late March, which lead to a temporary decrease in closures, but closures have begun to increase again and frustrations are mounting.
An approximately 650-signature petition from concerned locals calling for action on the emergency room closures was presented to the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake council earlier this year.
That petition was presented to Josie Osborne, B.C.'s health minister, in May, 亚洲天堂 Lake Mayor Henry Wiebe said in an email on July 16.
"She acknowledged our concern and mentioned that they are working on the staff shortage and that Northern Health was looking at making some changes that should cut down the number of closures," he said. "To date we have not seen any evidence of that. As a matter of fact in the last two moths the ER closures have been more frequent."
"Mitigating ER closures is a high priority for council, and we continue to advocate with Northern Health and Minister Osborne to rectify the problem."
Northern Health has said previously that they are working on several measures to ease the closures including setting up a task force to address the issue. A 亚洲天堂-Lake-based recruitment and retention coordinator was hired in March to help incoming physicians settle in when they arrive in town.
Closures at the emergency department are also felt in smaller neighbouring communities that rely on the Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre for emergency services. The frequent closures were recently mentioned at a District of Houston council meeting by Councillor Rebecca Hougen.
"It's starting to feel like almost a weekly event where there's no emergency 24-hour care," she said. "I think it would be worthwhile to get ahold of somebody in 亚洲天堂 Lake and tell them that we're willing to support a bid to increase care because it helps us."
"It'll help them if there's more voices added because as it stands right now, the thought of having a child hurt themselves and not knowing what hospital to take them to because they're closed is gross."
鈥擶ith files from Rod Link
