Delta, B.C., emergency room closures prompt concern from paramedics, mayor
Union representing paramedics and dispatchers says it learned about ER closure on social media
The emergency room at the hospital in Delta, B.C., reopened Monday morning after staffing challenges forced it to close twice over the weekend, prompting questions from the city's mayor and the union representing paramedics and dispatchers.
In a statement, Fraser Health said the ER at Delta Hospital closed overnight Saturday and reopened on Sunday morning. It shuttered again Sunday night and reopened Monday at 6:30 a.m. PT.
Fraser Health said the closures stemmed from a doctor shortage. The service interruption aimed to ensure patients already in the emergency department could be seen by a physician before the end of their shift at 1:30 a.m., the health authority said.
After 9:30 p.m., emergency-trained nurses were on site for walk-in patients needing basic first aid and to help transfer patients with urgent needs to another hospital.
The service interruption only affected the hospital's emergency department, Fraser Health said, and all other services were available.
Ian Tait, communications director for the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C., said its members learned about the closure after information was posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday afternoon.
"It's kind of troublesome to us that we weren't informed," Tait told CBC's The Early Edition Monday morning.
He said that it's the union's understanding that B.C. Emergency Health Services, the provincial agency responsible for ambulance services, was told of the closure sometime prior to the message appearing on X, but information didn't trickle down to membership and didn't affect staff scheduling.
He said paramedics diverted patients to nearby hospitals, adding that "the extended transport times are definitely concerning."
"We're becoming really accustomed to this and this is kind of becoming a big part of our work throughout the province, especially in rural and remote B.C.," he said. "Delta and Metro Vancouver is definitely a new one and a sign that these things are progressing to every community."
Delta Mayor George Harvie said the only communication he received from Fraser Health was a media release about the closures.
He said a special meeting with city council has been set up for Monday. He hopes council will ask for a meeting with Fraser Health officials to better understand what happened and what measures are in place to prevent it from happening again.
Harvie said he's concerned about the prospect of a 24-hour ER closure, which would prompt ambulances transporting patients elsewhere to deal with daytime traffic congestion.
"My concern is if it's 24 hours, we have a serious problem here in Delta," Harvie said.
Facing reporters at the legislature on Monday, Health Minister Josie Osborne said the government had seen the number of service interruptions at ERs come down 40 per cent in the last six months compared to the six months before that.
"But I know that that's hard to hear if you, say, live in Delta and your emergency room has been temporarily closed for this first time," she told reporters.
Osborne said that the closure was a result of a global health-care worker shortage, and said the government was committed to hiring more workers by expanding the medical school at the University of B.C. and building a new one at Simon Fraser University in Surrey.
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With files from The Early Edition and Mike McArthur