The Mayor of Clearwater says any Barriere-area residents who head north to his community for emergency care could be sent as far as 100 Mile House, if they need to be admitted to hospital.

“It is all fine and dandy in some sense if we are in crisis, but my concern at this point is getting people once they are discharged back from 100 Mile House, especially for low-income single people and those without family supports,” Merlin Blackwell said Thursday.

“It is going to be incredibly difficult because there is no bus, no taxi, no anything along those lines.”

With the Barriere and District Health Centre temporarily closed because of staffing challenges, residents have been told to go either Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital and Health Centre in Clearwater, which is 60 km away, or to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, 64 km away.

Speaking at the Thompson Nicola Regional District’s board meeting, Blackwell said it might be better for these people to go straight to Kamloops as all six in-patient beds in Clearwater have also been temporarily closed by Interior Health.

However, Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer said the concern with that is the fact that Royal Inland Hospital has been dealing with its own challenges in the emergency room for some time.

“They don’t need a bunch of other people coming in there that could be treated on a secondary basis with things that aren’t emergencies,” Stamer told NL News on Wednesday.

In a statement to NL News, Interior Health says Barriere residents will “transferred to the most appropriate nearby hospital” if they need to be admitted to hospital.

“[It could] potentially [be] the District of 100 Mile House, the Royal Inland Hospital, or elsewhere,” IHA said. “It will depend on the individual’s condition and consultation with the patient.”

“It is important to note that the vast majority of patients presenting to the emergency department do not require inpatient care.”

As for Blackwell’s concerns about getting people back home, Interior Health said it “always works with patients who are being discharged to help them return to their home communities.”

This morning, Interior Health, in a statement, also noted that physician services will still be available at the Barriere and District Health Centre, though laboratory services will be reduced to one day a week as of Monday, Jan. 24.

The health authority also said COVID-19 testing and immunization clinics in Barriere are also continuing.

“We will resume normal operations in impacted communities as soon as possible and in the meantime, we are temporarily reassigning and redeploying staff to sustain essential services throughout the region,” IHA President and CEO, Susan Brown, said, in a statement on Tuesday.