Interior Health says a turnover of staff at the Ashcroft Hospital is the reason behind the recent weekend closures at the Emergency Room.

The third closure just this month is on Sunday between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., the sixth ER closure so far this year – one in April, one in February, and one in January.

IHA Executive Director for Clinical Operations David Matear says they’ve had retirements, a maternity leave, and even a resignation in Ashcroft.

“We are doing everything that we can to avoid closures,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s not always possible, and particularly now when we have some vacancies in our permanent staffing. Management staff is working very hard to ensure the closures are limited to the overnight shifts when they are only expected to be one or two visits on average.”

Matear says they are looking to hire at least three full time nurses, possibly more if they hire a mix of full time and part time nurses.

“We recognize that [staff turnover] is something we expect,” Matear added. “We are trying to do our best to recruit staff from across Canada but also from other areas of Interior Health. We’re looking at contract staff and agency staff to also fill those gaps so that we can maintain emergency department services through the weekend.”

The Ashcroft ER is only open from Friday at 6 p.m. to Monday at 8 a.m.