The new Executive Director for Interior Health West doesn’t anticipate any closures at the Ashcroft Hospital Emergency Room over the next three months.

Lisa Zetes-Zanatta says staffing levels in Ashcroft have been stabilized considerably, after a series of ER closures earlier this year

“Now that doesn’t mean that we’re 100 per cent finished with the work that we have to do,” she said. “But there is clarity on what that work is and I do not expect that our emergency room will close there for the foreseeable future.”

Zetes-Zanatta says Interior Health expects to have a full complement of permanent and casual staff in place by this December.

“I like to not only have all of our lines filled, but I like to have casuals waiting in the wings so that if there is an unforeseen incident, we don’t then suffer for having to quickly go an recruit to an area that’s traditionally harder to recruit to,” added Zetes-Zanatta.

After a series of closures earlier this year, she says the end is almost in sight.

“We look at where the needs are great and will reallocate staff, but I would say that we’re fully staffed going up into December,”she added.

Until then, Zetes-Zanatta does say that any unforeseen closure at the Ashcroft ER would only be due to a sudden and unexpected staff emergency.