A lack of doctors has closed the emergency room at the Nicola Valley Hospital once again, barely 48 hours after it reopened after a similar closure going into the weekend.

In an email just after 6 p.m. Sunday night, Interior Health notified people about another 25 hour ER closure, from 7 a.m. today to 8 a.m. tomorrow, March 14.

“Twice in three days,” Merritt City Councillor Claire Newman said on twitter Sunday night. “David Eby, Adrian Dix perhaps a comment tomorrow? Can we get any support?”

“Dan Albas, Jackie Tegart, Shirley Bond, please we need all your voices. Enough is enough. Merritt needs you.”

The Merritt-area MLA – BC Liberal Jackie Tegart – tells NL News that while the shutdown of the Nicola Valley Hospital’s emergency room is frustrating for locals, she suggests it should also be a larger concern for anyone who wants to travel to and from the Interior.

“We all know that Merritt is a critical coming-together of three highways,” Tegart said. “We know how important their E-R and their hospital is. This is just absolutely unacceptable.”

This most recent closure represents the eighth time the Merritt E-R has been shut down since just before Christmas due to staffing issues.

As has been the case during previous closures, Interior Health says people who need emergency care should either head to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops or call 911 so they can be taken “to the nearest available and appropriate facility.”

IH says people who aren’t sure if they need to head to the emergency room should call HealthLink BC at 811.

– With files from Paul James