Border denies Alaska town emergency medical care at night

Residents of a small southeast Alaska town no longer have nighttime access to emergency medical care because the border with Canada is now shut after midnight. 

Canadian officials began closing the road linking Hyder with nearby Stewart, British Columbia, on Wednesday, CoastAlaska News reported. Hyder residents depend on Stewart for health care and mainland road access.

The cost-cutting measure locks the border gate from midnight to 8 a.m.

Hyder, which is about 125 kilometres northeast of Ketchikan, has fewer than 100 residents. Stewart is a few kilometres away from Hyder and has a population of about 500.

Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz said it's an unsafe situation.

"It's the established emergency evacuation route. It's the only evacuation route if you have a tsunami or a flood. And then, of course, in the middle of the night if you have an emergency medical issue you don't have access to a hospital because the hospital they use is in Stewart," he said.

Ortiz protested the closure to the Canadian Border Services Agency.

"While I haven't had any direct evidence of a commitment of change, I do think there's room there for a solution that will meet the concerns of the folks in Stewart and in Hyder," he said.

A remote-access system for unlocking the border gate could solve the problem, he said.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski also contacted Canadian officials to argue against the closure,  which comes at the start of the area's tourist season. Business owners say it will scare away bear-viewers, photographers and anglers who head out in the early morning hours.