Efforts are being made to keep the Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) emergency department from future closures, confirmed B.C.'s Health Minister Adrian Dix.
"Right now our next vacancy to fill is Aug. 10, which is good news, because we have been working to fill vacancies," he told the Tribune Friday, Aug. 2.
Since April the ER has been closed overnight 11 times, with seven of those closures being in the month of July.
On July 30, Dix met with Williams Lake city council virtually to hear their concerns about CMH and committed to continue working together to support actions to avoid future diversions.
Dix provided council with information about specific actions already taken and planned.
Three new full-time registered nurses are starting in August at CMH, he said.
GoHealthBC toured the hospital on Wednesday, July 31 as CMH will become part of the program to schedule nurses to cover vacant shifts.
In Fort St. John, about 12,000 hours of patient care has been covered tin 2024 with GoHealthBC, Dix said.
Additionally, Interior Health is using volunteer deployment of nursing staff to cover vacant shifts, as much as possible, he said.
"Our policy is to fight every day and limit the absolute maximum the number of emergency closures," Dix said.
Dix couldn't attend a health care rally hosted by Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson on Friday, Aug. 2, that attracted about 250 local residents, but said he understands people's frustrations.
"We are absolutely committed to this and we hear their frustrations, even their anger," he said. "People expect the emergency department to be open, I expect it to be open. We are doing everything we can."
Dix also emphasized it is important to celebrate and admire people working in health care.
"In health care we have a lot of dedicated staff who worked often through illness and injury in the past and COVID did change that," Dix said.
B.C. presently has more family doctors per capita than anywhere else and since the COVID pandemic the province has gained 1,000 nurses.
"We throw in everything in at it, but the kitchen sink, then we throw in the kitchen sink. We're giving everything we have. That's not about me and it's not about politics. It's about the people doing this work."
The minister followed up with a letter after his meeting with city council that Rathor asked the Tribune to share with the public.
