The mayor of Ashcroft says the village continues to work with Interior Health to find long term solutions at the Ashcroft Hospital.

Barbara Roden says there hasn’t been a closure at the emergency room since July.

She says after seven closures between January and July, the entire community is hoping that those closures are a thing of the past.

“Whatever it is that they are doing, it seems to be working. The next step is to move forward working with Interior Health to get the Primary Care Network going in this area, which would better address the healthcare needs of people not just in Ashcroft, but Cache Creek, Clinton and all the areas served by the Ashcroft hospital,” she says.

“Certainly when we were in the midst of all of those closures, that was the area of biggest concern – that’s what I was hearing about the most. Fortunately, we have a very good local health care group. They are advocating as well. That’s what it’s going to take. It’s going to take the whole community because if the whole community is on board, then I’m confident we’ll get changes here at the hospital.”

Roden says the ER closure took up a lot of her time this past year, and she says it will continue to in the new year.