BC’s Health Minister is suggesting the current staffing crunch at the Clearwater hospital should be more easily fixed this time than it was two years ago.

Adrian Dix, speaking with Kamloops area media outlets as part of an online news conference on Monday, says the fundamental issues which held back the recruitment of medical professionals at Dr. Helmcken Memorial in 2022 aren’t there anymore.

“A lot of that was linked to the lack of housing for professional staff. We addressed that by dealing with that issue, and by significant efforts of recruitment,” said Dix.  “There are occasional problems. We don’t want to see any of them [emergency room closures]. Of course I’m aware of them. I’m aware of every single one of them before they happen.”

Dix contends that emergency room shutdowns in rural hospitals are an ever-present reality.

“When you have an emergency room that’s kept open by a small number of people overnight, because they have a relatively small number of cases, you are vulnerable to occasionally people calling in sick, as they have to do when they’re sick,” said Dix.  “We work hard to respond to those all the time.”

Dix notes the situation in Clearwater is not unique to that community.

“We have a process to try to address every single one of them [emergency room closures] before they happen,” said Dix.  “You’ve seen in other provinces in the country, some significantly worse problems. I don’t think that’s any relief to anybody in Clearwater.”

This past weekend saw the ER in Clearwater shut down for 25 hours due to a lack of nurses.

This is an issue which is expected to continue into the summer as Interior Health looks to hire at least 5 new nurses to replace recently-vacated positions.