100 Mile House, hospital ER in BC, temporarily closed for the second time in 2026
listen to this article
estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article has been generated by AI-based technology. There may be mispronunciations. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve results.
For the second time in less than a week, the emergency department at the hospital at 100 Mile House was temporarily closed as the mayor of the community in B.C.’s South Cariboo region calls for a meaningful long-term solution.
According to , the emergency department at 100 Mile District General Hospital remained closed from 7 am to 5 pm on Monday. interior health authorityThe ER has been closed for the second time in the new year.
The health authority had earlier announced The ER will be closed for 25 hours on the morning of January 2. The health authority said the closure lasted 13 hours after physician coverage was secured.
Last year, the ER at 100 Mile House recorded at least two dozen temporary closures.
Interior Health advised anyone needing immediate care to go to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, about 90 kilometers from 100 Mile House, or call 911.
Mayor Maureen Pinkney said the main reason for the temporary closure of 100 Mile House Hospital was a shortage of doctors.
The mayor of 100 Mile House is speaking out after yet another emergency room closure in the community of about 20,000 people. As CBC’s Tiffany Goodwein reports, this is one of many ER closures across BC during the holidays.
“It’s complicated,” she said. “We have two people on leave and when only four of the nine we have work in the ER, that doesn’t leave enough people to take over,” he told CBC. dawn kamloops,
He said the temporary closure is a concern for the community, which is located on Highway 97.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate with these closures in that the crashes that have occurred have happened on either side of the day of the closure, but we did have one where the person had to go over,” Pinkney said.
“It’s worrisome because we have a lot of outdoor sports, we have a lot of hockey tournaments and every time someone organizes an event, they’re now checking the ER to see if it’s going to be shut down or not.”
Pinkney said Monday that she sent a letter to BC Health Minister Josie Osborne on Dec. 16 and has not received a response. He said he has had conversations with Interior Health “that are looking positive for the future.”
“We know this is not a quick fix, but there are some things that can change quickly and really make an impact.”
She said she wants the province to increase the hours nurse practitioners are allowed to work to help alleviate some of the pressure faced in rural ERs.
The Health Ministry said work is underway at the provincial level to explore options to better integrate nurse practitioners into emergency departments.
dawn kamloops7:01ER closure tests 100 Mile House resilience
Mayor Maureen Pinkney reflects on the fallout from the holiday ER shutdown, the mill closure and cautious optimism as the community looks toward long-term solutions in the year ahead.
Other hospitals face temporary closure
In November, the Ambulance Paramedics of BC, a union that represents more than 4,500 paramedics and dispatchers, said more than 250 temporary hospital and emergency rooms were slated to close by that time in 2025.
Communities like Lillooet, deltaOthers – including Williams Lake and Chetwynd – faced temporary ER closures in 2025 due to staffing shortages.
Last month, Fraser Health announced The emergency department of Mission Memorial Hospital will operate from 8 am to 6 pm from December 29 to January 6.
The Health Ministry said that while health care services may temporarily shift to individual hospitals, access to emergency and specialty care is maintained throughout the region through planning, shared resources, and patient flow between sites.
It also said it has implemented several rural practice programs to attract, retain and support rural health-care providers, and said more than 174 U.S. health-care workers have accepted positions in B.C. since the recruitment drive began in March.
Interior Health previously announced in December that four hospitals in BC Interior – three of which have emergency departments closed periodically due to staffing shortages – are launching a pilot program where patients needing emergency care can be seen virtually by an off-site doctor.
