Image Credit: Aaron Schulze/CFJC Today

By Victor Kaisar

ER Closure

Lillooet ER to close for 25th time in 2025

May 10, 2025 | 5:34 PM

LILLOOET, B.C. — Lillooet and area residents will be without emergency room coverage for the 25th time this year, as the latest 13 hour closure will take effect Saturday (May 10) evening.

Interior Health says the ER at the Lillooet Hospital and Health Centre will be unavailable from 7:00 p.m. Saturday until 8:00 a.m. Sunday (May 11) morning. Assuming it reopens as scheduled, it will have been closed for 646 hours this year.

People are once again being told to head to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops if they need emergency care during this closure.

This is the fifth ER closure in Lillooet this month, and even though healthcare is a provincial responsiblity, it comes as residents vote in a by-election to elect a new councillor.

Interior Health said in March that four new physicians were expected to arrive in the community by the end of this year.

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“Interior Health recognizes the concerns felt by the community about recent service interruptions and is committed to bringing new physicians to Lillooet and supporting them to stay in the community,” the health authority said at the time.

As has been the case during past emergency room closures in Lillooet and elsewhere, Interior Health said people should call 9-1-1 if they need emergency care, or HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 if they aren’t sure if they need to head to the emergency room.