BREAKING: Merritt mayor sounds the alarm as Interior Health document points to dozens of ER closures before 2024 ends

The community of Merritt could be headed toward a healthcare crisis over the next three months, with potentially 30, 24-hour emergency room closures being forecast for the Nicola Valley Hospital.

“You don’t want to be the boy that cries wolf, but when you have this source that has been very spot-on for almost 18 months, and I get something like this, I have to say something,” said Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz. “And again, you don’t want to cause a big kerfuffle but if we are looking at these kind of closures over the next three months and there is anything we can do to stem that from happening, working with [Interior Health] and getting the message out, maybe that’s what we need to do.”

A document sent to Goetz that is, according to the mayor, from a reliable source, lists that the next emergency room closure could come as soon as Friday (Oct. 4), and be followed by four more closures through October. Pressure will then ramp up with the hospital looking at 11 shutdowns in November and 15 in December, including an eight-day stretch from the Dec. 22 to 30.

“Especially when we are talking December, when I think we are looking at almost 16 days in a month that is 31 days — over half the month — and then from the Dec. 22 to 30, eight straight days of the ER closed for over a week. That’s just simply… we can’t have it. As I stressed in the email, this is not a document that is official,” said Goetz.

“It’s never really a good time to have your ER closed, but it’s even doubly worse when you look at the connector all the way through to Kamloops and Kelowna. Those do tend to get a fair amount of snow on them, so they are a bit of an issue,” added Goetz.

Interior Health provided a statement to CFJC News on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 1) stating they work to fill all vacant shifts up until the shift is scheduled to start and that closures are a last resort, noting the majority of gaps are gradually filled, preventing most closures.

“We can say that Interior Health works to fill vacant positions right up until the shift is scheduled to start. Schedules are worked on many weeks and months in advance. In instances where community staff can not fill all shifts, we immediately look to find coverage to fill those gaps. The majority of gaps are gradually filled preventing most closures,” reads the statement.

“I’m expecting a call from one of the IH directors today, and that’s great, but I need an answer from the president herself. The directors could carry my message and they often do. I have a great working relationship with IH, but I need this question answered. I need to know if this is correct (or) incorrect,” said Goetz.

IH did confirm to CFJC News that the document is accurate but reiterated it’s a fluid situation and expects some shifts to be filled, averting closures.

“That is the latest information we saw. We want to reiterate, the majority of shifts do get covered, so it is not an accurate picture of changes to normal services,” reads the statement.