The emergency room at the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater will be closed for 13 hours over the Canada Day long weekend due to a lack of nurses.

Interior Health says the ER – which is usually open around the clock – will be closed between 6 p.m. today, June 29 and 7 a.m. Saturday, June 30.

It is the fourth closure of this year, with people in need of emergency care being told to head to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops or 100 Mile House District General Hospital.

Recurring ER closures in Clearwater are expected to continue into the summer as Interior Health looks to hire at least five new nurses to replace recently-vacated positions.

Earlier this month, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the fundamental issues which led to delays in recruiting healthcare professionals to Clearwater 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 [but] there are occasional problems,” Dix said.

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

As has been the case during past emergency room closures, Interior Health says people in Clearwater who need life-saving emergency care are being told to call 9-1-1.

People who aren’t sure if they need to head to the emergency room are being told to contact HealthLink BC.