Tumbler Ridge, BC, mayor concerned about ambulance staffing levels
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New data is raising concerns about ambulance staffing levels in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., months after hours were cut at the local emergency department.
A northeastern BC community has been without evening and weekend emergency department services since September due to a doctor shortage.
Mayor Darryl Krakowka says residents were told a second ambulance would be deployed to fill the gap, and patients more than 100 kilometers away would be transported to the nearest hospital in Dawson Creek as needed.
But data provided by BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) shows both ambulances are not always staffed.
BCEHS says that from September to December 2025, one ambulance’s shift was full an average of 92 percent of the time, while the other’s shift was full 83 percent of the time.
“It means there are days when we don’t have an ambulance or we don’t have a second ambulance,” said Krakowka, a retired paramedic who worked in the community for about 10 years.
“If I were the health minister, my eyes would be wide open,” he said. “And if I were the CEO of Northern Health, my eyes would be wide open right now, too.”
BCEHS says it has hired 10 full-time paramedics to staff a second ambulance after the emergency department’s hours were reduced.
Crews responded to 194 emergency calls and patient transfer requests at Tumbler Ridge between September 1, 2025, and January 7, 2026. Most of them – 158 – were handled locally, while 36 were handled by crews from other communities.
“We are very proud of the BCEHS staff who stepped up to increase ambulance coverage in Tumbler Ridge when the community needed it,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
According to BCEHS, ambulances based in Tumbler Ridge also responded to 34 emergencies or patient transfers elsewhere in the area.
“When an emergency occurs, the nearest available ambulance responds,” the spokesperson said.
But Krakowka says this has increased residents’ fear that ambulances won’t be there when they need them.
“This was the fix that was advertised by Northern Health,” he said.
“You’re putting more lives at risk because not only do we not have an ER after hours or on the weekend, but we also don’t have two ambulances fully deployed because they’re not fully deployed.”
Northern Health says it continues to recruit doctors and nurses as it works to restore emergency department hours.
one in 9 December updateThe health authority says a new doctor is expected to arrive at Tumbler Ridge in the spring of 2027.
It says it has also posted for a nurse practitioner to work in the emergency department, a role that will be a first for the community. Two family doctors are posted.
The health authority said its focus is on “expanding primary care” and exploring 10-hour walk-in emergency services seven days a week “as physician recruitment has stagnated.”
Krakówka wants health authorities to consider other options in the meantime, including virtual care or bringing in doctors from neighboring communities for short-term coverage.
He also wants a commitment that a second ambulance will be stationed at Tumbler Ridge when emergency hours are reinstated.
“We had two ambulances here earlier,” he said.
“These paramedics have gone into our community. They are our family now.”
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