Residents of Merritt and area will be without emergency care for the second this month.

Interior Health says the emergency room at the Nicola Valley Hospital will be closed for 26 hours, from 6 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 17 to 8 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 18 due to a lack of doctors.

People in need of emergency care during those times are being told to head to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.

This is the tenth ER closure in Merritt due to either a lack of doctors or nurses this year, with eight of those closures coming in the last two months. It would have been the eleventh closure of the year, but Interior Heath was able to find doctors to keep the facility open over the August Long Weekend.

As has been the case during past emergency room closures, Interior Health says people in Merritt who need life-saving emergency care should 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.