Repeated emergency department closures are taking a toll on Hudson’s Hope residents, with the community continuing to face uncertainty over when emergency care will be available locally.
The Hudson’s Hope Health Centre recorded more than 130 hours of emergency department closures in July and more than 50 hours in August as staffing shortages continue to affect services.
Mayor Travous Quibell said the frequent diversion notices are creating added stress for families, tradespeople and industry workers who rely on having emergency care close to home.
“It does definitely weigh on the residents of the community that they see the notices of diversion on such a regular basis,” Quibell said.
“You keep that in the back of your mind that there’s not always 100 percent certainty at the moment that emergency services are available locally.”
Hudson’s Hope has historically relied on local physicians to provide both primary care and emergency services, rather than operating a 24-hour emergency department.
But the loss of a physician has left the remaining doctor focused primarily on scheduled appointments, contributing to more frequent daytime emergency department diversions.
The community was also hoping for some relief with the arrival of another physician, but that plan was delayed after the candidate pulled out for personal reasons.
A second prospective doctor is not expected to fully transition into the community until early next year.
Quibell said while the delay is disappointing, he understands the personal circumstances involved and remains grateful to the nurses, paramedics and other health-care workers continuing to provide services in the community.
In the meantime, the district is working with Northern Health and the North Peace Division of Family Practice on potential solutions to improve access to care.
Those discussions include exploring nurse practitioner models and virtual care, while the district also continues to advocate for the local ambulance detachment to be upgraded to full-time status.
Quibell said the community needs to see the frequent emergency diversions brought under control.
“We desperately want to get the emergency diversions under control—we need to,” Quibell said.
“We’re open to any novel solutions that might achieve that goal, and our ask to Northern Health is to continue to work towards those goals with us.”
