Emergency Department in Clearwater, BC Hospital closed for the third time this month | Globalnews.ca

emergency department Dr. Helmken Memorial Hospital In Clean waterBC is temporarily closed for the third time this month.

The department remained closed on Sunday morning. Earlier it was supposed to reopen at 7 am on Monday, but late on Sunday, internal health Announced that the bandh will last till 7 pm on Monday

In a tweet, the health authority said, “Sorry for this temporary change.”

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Clearwater ER closed overnight due to staffing

In an emergency, patients are told to call 911 or go to the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.

The Clearwater Emergency Department was also closed between 8 a.m. on July 2 and 8 a.m. on July 3, and 6 p.m. on July 7 to 7 a.m. on July 8.

As for the subsequent closures, Internal Health attributed the closures to “limited staff availability”.


Click to play video: 'Staff shortages force more hospital diversions and service cuts on Vancouver Island'








Staffing shortages force more hospital diversions and service cuts on Vancouver Island


Staffing shortages force more hospital diversions and service cuts on Vancouver Island – June 4, 2022

According to Clearwater Mayor Marilyn Blackwell, the local emergency department has closed 21 times since the beginning of the year.

one in series of tweets, He proposed a number of ways to deal with staff shortages that contribute to layoffs, such as offering recently retired health care professionals incentives to work one or two days a week. He also suggested subsidized housing for temporary workers in rural BC, more flexible education options for nurses, and a more flexible payment model for doctors.

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In an interview on CKNW’s The Mike Smyth Show, Blackwell described a “rotating door” of laboratory and X-ray technicians in his community, with high levels of burnout as well as a housing crisis.

“When you’re in a small town, if you’re a lab tech, you’re the only one, so you’re on call 24 hours a day,” he explained. “There’s going to be a quality of life problem for these people, and a burnout rate that’s probably happening at a faster rate than you’d find it in a city.”

The Canadian Prime Minister is currently meeting in Victoria and health care is expected to be top of his agenda.

Global News has contacted Internal Health for comment on this story.

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