IH hopes strategies employed in Merritt, Clearwater and Lillooet can help 100 Mile House emergency room stay open

The 100 Mile House emergency room was closed again Tuesday (March 24), marking the sixth closure this month and the eleventh this year. Patients needing urgent care have been asked to go to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, an hour away from the 100 Mile House emergency room.

Interior Health says it is working on ways to keep closures to a minimum, hoping to employ similar strategies to those employed recently in Merritt, Clearwater and Lillooet. The emergency room has been closed for 142 hours so far this year, a number Maureen Pinkney, the mayor of the 100 Mile House, sees as irresponsible to the health of the region.

“It’s not good health care at all. And we need to be more responsible. We have about 40,000 people who we look after and it’s essential it’s open,” said Pinkney.

Interior Health says recent closures come down to a lack of physicians. With IH already struggling to fill shifts now around spring break, there’s even more pressure on limited hospital staff.

“When you get into these peak vacation periods, like spring break, as we saw in 100 Mile around Christmas, the competition for those locums is fierce. Many of those physicians want spring break for themselves. The vacancy problem is exacerbated during peak vacation time,” said Karen Cooper, clinical operations executive director for the Thompson Cariboo region.

IH is looking at ways to help fill the shortage by recruiting doctors down south or internationally.

The health authority says three-year returns of service are causing a roving problem at many hospitals throughout the Interior.

“It can take a problem of occasional, shifts not covered, to many, many shifts not covered. Some of the strategies we used in Merritt, Clearwater and Lillooet will fit for 100 Mile, and we’re definitely embarking on those,” said Cooper.

Certain members of staff have asked to work longer hours and take on more responsibility in the hospital.

“We have three in our community who would like to work longer hours. One would like to work in the E.R. They need a little extra training for that. But also, they need a contract. They need to know what the compensation will be,” said Pinkney.

“We’re really open to looking at that as a potential strategy. As I mentioned, we have several strategies to really try to get out ahead of this,” said Cooper.

The mayor of 100 Mile House hopes to see these strategies bring results soon.

“It’s unfortunate but it’s just absolutely not acceptable. We know there are a lot of different reasons why this is happening, but it just cannot continue to happen,” said Pinkney.

If the 100 Mile emergency room closes again, patients will again be redirected to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake.