Interior Health says the recent series of closures at the emergency department in Clearwater have been made with patient safety in mind.

Speaking on NL Newsday, IH Executive Director of Clinical Operations for the Thompson-Cariboo, Carl Meadows, says they’ve only got four of the eight staff that are needed to staff the facility at the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital.

He says nurse managers are spending every moment of their day trying to fill those gaps.

“Human resource challenges are occurring in all sectors right now, and healthcare is not immune to this,” Meadows said. “It is really challenging for the community to have to see these closures, and our decision to close – its not even a closure, its diversion to Kamloops – is really with patient safety in mind.”

Normally open 24/7, the emergency department in Clearwater has already been closed for 62 hours this week, with one closure – from 6 a.m. on Sunday, July 10 to 7 a.m. on Tuesday, July 12 – lasting for 49 hours.

A second 13-hour closure was in effect from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday, July 13.

“Nobody wants to see a site closed but again patient safety is number one,” Meadows added. “If there is any risk to the safety of patients, a diversion is better than having short staff and not being able to meet the needs.”

All but one of the 20 closures this year have come since April with the Clearwater area without ER access for a combined 356 hours – roughly 15 days.

“When you have got half of the amount of staff and there is as much as a sick call, we have to regroup,” Meadows said.

“The good news is BC Ambulance and our transport office are well aware of how to transport the sickest people to care, and those people are always going to get the great care that they get, whether it is in Clearwater when we are not on diversion or at Royal Inland Hospital.”

Mayor Merlin Blackwell did not want to call the situation a crisis as he feels it could be a deterrent to trying to attract people to come work in Clearwater, calling it a “great place” for semi-retired workers to relocate to.

“I would take part timers,” Blackwell added. “I would be really interested in seeing some nurses that are looking to wind down their career [who] are only wanting to work a couple days a week come here and set up shop. Lab techs too that could come in and do relief work for a couple of days a week.”