Emergency services will be unavailable at Oliver’s hospital to start the long weekend.
For the third time in five days, Interior Health (IH) says the South Okanagan General Hospital’s emergency room will temporarily shut down due to a doctor shortage.
The department will be closed from 8 p.m. on March 28, until 7 a.m. on Friday, March 29.
Patients can access care at the Penticton Regional Hospital during this time, IH said.
Oliver’s hospital also saw its emergency room close on March 24 and 25, for the same reason.
Doctor shortages have closed the department several times this year and come after a slew of service interruptions through fall 2023.
It also follows a $7.5 million commitment from the B.C. government to help stabilize physician emergency-room coverage in hospitals in Merritt, Oliver and Salmon Arm. That pledge was made in October 2023.
All other hospital services will continue as normal at Oliver’s hospital during this weekend’s closure.
People in the community who need life-threatening emergency care should call 911 for transport to the nearest available and appropriate facility, IH said.
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