Overnight ER closure at B.C. hospital due to staffing challenges
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
SURREY – A hospital in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley is shutting its emergency department during overnight hours for more than a week due to staffing challenges.
Fraser Health says in a release that Mission Memorial Hospital’s emergency department will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Dec. 29 to Jan. 6 to reflect what it says are “systemic pressures being experienced across Canada.”
During that time, the hospital will have emergency-trained nurses to assess walk-in patients and provide basic care, as well as redirect them to a neighbouring hospital if their needs are more urgent.
Mission Memorial Hospital site medical director Dr. Paul Theron says in a statement that the temporary closure is to “enable consistent and plannable hours” while enabling the hospital to “align services with available staffing and maintain patient safety.”
Theron also says the hospital is working with the provincial Ministry of Health “to stabilize longer-term staffing.”
Interior Health announced earlier this month that four hospitals in the B.C. Interior — three of which have had periodic emergency-department closures due to staffing shortages — are starting a pilot program in which emergency-care patients may be seen virtually by an off-site doctor.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2025.
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version said Fraser Health announced four hospitals in the B.C. Interior were starting a pilot program. In fact, it was Interior Health.