The mayor of Ashcroft says there’s an extra thing to consider with staffing struggles at the local emergency room.
While recruitment can be an issue on one end, Barbara Roden says she knows of some staff at the Ashcroft Hospital who are planning to retire soon.
“Either in the very short term, or coming up shortly. And that is a concern and a challenge for Interior Health and for the hospital to fill those positions as people retire,” she says.
Staffing shortages have forced the ER at the Ashcroft Hospital to be closed overnight five times in the past eight months, most recently overnight on Sunday.
The hospital’s ER is already only open from Friday nights to Monday mornings, and Roden says it used to be open 24-7.
She says those closures force emergency care to be long distance for locals.
“If it is an emergency situation obviously we have an ambulance station here in Ashcroft, so the ambulance is available and that will take you to Kamloops or I believe Lillooet is the other main option. But if you’re going in yourself, the options are Kamloops, Merritt, Lillooet or 100 Mile.”