Port Hardy, BC residents rally against ER closure overnight for nearly 3 years

Dozens of people attended a rally Friday afternoon in Port Hardy, B.C., to protest the overnight closure of an emergency room on the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

Island Health has closed the ER at Port Hardy Hospital at 5 p.m. every day through January 2023, citing staffing shortages.

“Closing emergency rooms after 5 p.m. is in no way acceptable,” North Island Conservative MLA Anna Kindy told CBC News.

“When we’re looking three years out, it becomes a disability to me.”

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When the Port Hardy ER is closed, patients needing emergency care are transported to Port McNeil – a 45-kilometer drive along a winding, dark highway dotted with black snow and herds of elk in the winter.

Besides it being a dangerous drive, Kindy says the ER in Port McNeil is already overloaded and can’t handle the additional patients.

She says many of the people coming to Port Hardy’s hospital are from remote communities on the North Island, and adding more time during an emergency could have worse health outcomes.

“If you don’t get timely care, sometimes the outcome is not as good,” he said.

Kindi also told Latest report The Chief Medical Officer of Island Health has highlighted the poor health outcomes and low life expectancy for people on the North Island, and residents there often suffer from complex conditions that require urgent care.

needy nation

David Mungo Knox, hereditary chief of the local Kwakiutl First Nation, says many of his people suffer from the effects of intergenerational trauma.

“Addiction is very ugly and bad, with alcohol, opioids and suicide,” Knox told CBC News.

“We really need Island Health to look after the North Island better.”

Knox says he is advocating for all countries on the northern tip of the island.

Gwa’sala-Nkwaxda’xw Nations, two North Island First Nations, near Port Hardy, in March 2024 declared a state of emergency After the death of 11 members.

Nations said that many people died due to drug and alcohol abuse.

$30 million investment

Island Health says it has had success attracting physicians and medical staff to the area, but it is still having trouble recruiting X-ray and lab technicians, as well as ER nurses.

“Despite these challenges, recruitment of (health care) professionals to North Vancouver Island remains a key priority,” the health authority said in a written statement.

Island Health says a recent $30 million investment has resulted in better care in the area, including a mobile CT scanner.

The health authority said it had also added more mental health and substance use support in the North Island region.

stay positive

Port Hardy Mayor Pat Corbett-Labette says while it is difficult to deal with closing the hospital’s ER overnight, she feels it is important to emphasize the successes of the past three years.

“Some of the progress is not being seen by the community,” Corbett-Labatt told CBC News.

“We don’t want to make it harder to recruit the same health-care workers into our area that we’re expecting because we’re being so negative.”

The mayor says successful doctor recruitment has helped many area residents gain access to a family doctor, which in turn has helped keep people out of the ER.

Corbett-Labatt says in some ways the continued closure of the hospital has been relatively beneficial sporadic shutdown This had been happening throughout the North Island for years.