Mission ER to close nightly for over a week

More temporary closures are coming to a B.C. hospital’s emergency department as the province continues to suffer a shortage of health-care workers.

Starting Monday, Mission Memorial Hospital’s ER will operate only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily — with the last closure expected to end at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

Fraser Health Authority says the change will help the community have predictable access to care while only a few physicians are available.

Vice President of Medicine Dr. Ralph Belle says Mission Memorial is no different than any hospital, with a dedicated staff of a few full-time emergency physicians and a reliance on “locum” doctors, who pick up shifts around the province, wherever needed.

“When working with staff that is really on a knife’s edge… if there are physicians that don’t pick up these shifts, you’re going to have gaps in the system,” said Belle.

But he says services are always available to Mission-area residents.

“It might not be in the evening after 6 p.m. at Mission Memorial Hospital, but we obviously have our 911 services in place. We have our UPC’s, — our urgent primary care centres — that are working in Mission, seven days a week as well. And we have our adjacent hospitals: Abbotsford Regional and Ridge Meadows Hospital, that are open 24/7.”

Belle says Fraser Health is working to “recruit aggressively at all times” to avoid future service interruptions.

In May, the health authority announced that Mission Memorial Hospital’s ER will undergo an $18-million renovation, beginning in 2026, and Belle is hopeful it will attract more physicians.

In Friday’s announcement about the closures, Mayor Paul Horn said he understands the community’s concerns, but he’s grateful for Fraser Health’s “extraordinary creativity” in addressing temporary pressures, and he looks forward to the addition of more staff in the new year.

Belle confirmed to The Leader Spirit that a new physician will start in the Mission Memorial Hospital ER on Jan. 8.

—With files from Kate Walker