100 Mile House residents have no ER access after weekend interruptions

The residents of 100 Mile House have had no access to an emergency room all weekend, and the closure continues into Monday.

Anyone who needs emergency medical attention in the small town, located in B.C.’s Cariboo region, has to head to Williams Lake, about an hour’s drive north.

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It isn’t unusual for 100 Mile District General Hospital’s ER to be shuttered, with more than a dozen closures this year alone.

Mayor Maureen Pinkney tells 1130 NewsRadio locals are often left with nowhere to go for basic health questions.

“Our ERs aren’t being used for emergencies only anymore,” Pinkney said. “They’re being used for day-to-day medicine. because people don’t have doctors.”

Until something is done, this issue is not going to go away, she says.

“This is going to continue to happen until nurse practitioners can work the ERs or have longer hours in their own clinics to alleviate people having to go to ER just for basic medical.”

She says more needs to be done to attract health-care workers, but she understands this is a province-wide problem.

“We’re just going to keep advocating for more things to change, as well as keep trying to recruit and retain the doctors that we have, and show other doctors what a wonderful place this is to live.”

Interior Health says all other inpatient services at the hospital continue as usual during these closures.

The ER is scheduled to reopen at 8 p.m. Monday.

With a file from Ridley Wilson.