Healthcare

ER closure at Mackenzie & District Hospital

Aug 8, 2024 | 11:20 AM

MACKENZIE — Northern Health has announced a service disruption due to staffing coverage challenges at Mackenzie and District Hospital.

It mean’s the hospital’s emergency department will be unavailable between 10 a.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday (Aug.9).

Northern Health says its continually working to ensure staff coverage and the timing of service interruptions may be adjusted depending on the success of these efforts.

People who need life-threatening emergency care (i.e. chest pains, difficulty breathing, or severe bleeding) should call 9-1-1 for transport to the nearest appropriate facility.

For non-urgent care needs, patients can call the NH Virtual Clinic at 1-844-645-7811 (daily from 10 am to 10 pm) to access a family doctor or nurse practitioner: https://www.northernhealth.ca/…/digital…/virtual-clinic.

The First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day program enables Indigenous people and their family members living in BC with limited or no access to their own doctors to make virtual appointments, by calling 1-855-344-3800 (seven days per week, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm).

Mackenzie isn’t the only town in northern B.C. to be hit by service interruptions. The emergency department at Fort St. John Hospital was closed from Wednesday (Aug.7) at 4 p.m. until 7 a.m. Thursday (Aug.8) morning.