(Image Credit: Interior Health/File)

By Victor Kaisar

ER Closures

‘This is urgent’: 100 Mile House mayor hoping for end to series of recurring ER closures

Mar 20, 2026 | 1:33 PM

100 MILE HOUSE, B.C. — Residents in the District of 100 Mile House are in the middle of the ninth emergency room closure of this year, and the fourth this month.

The E-R at the 100 Mile House District General Hospital was closed at 7:00 a.m. Friday (March 20) and it is only set to reopen at 8:00 p.m. People in the area who need emergency care are being told to head to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, located about an hour’s drive away.

“We are on a major highway. We have a lot of seniors. We have a lot of activities, especially in the winter when kids are playing hockey and it just can’t be closed where there are tournaments happening,” Mayor Maureen Pinkney said Friday.

This is the seventh ER closure since Family Day this year and the third in eight days, and Pinkney says its putting the community on edge.

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“The one doctor that was scheduled – and it should never come down to one doctor – but he took ill and they haven’t been able to find someone to replace that person in short order,” Pinkney said of this recent run of closures.

District officials have been in contact with Health Minister Josie Osborne over possible solutions to try and put an end to the ER closures. However, Pinkney admits the situation is complicated as while there are health professions in 100 Mile House who want to work, they can’t, because of issues around compensation and training.

“I think we need to use all the health professionals that we have in our area for many other things than they’re currently permitted to do,” Pinkney said. “It doesn’t mean that they have to do it, but the options should be provided to them if they want to be more engaged.”

“We don’t want to lose a doctor that wants to stay there because of a piece of paper.”

CFJC Today has reached out to Interior Health regarding this latest closure, and is awaiting a response.

“Interior Health and all the powers to be up there are working on [a solution]. We just need them to work faster and find solutions quicker,” Pinkney said. “It’s very involved and we do appreciate that but at the same time, this is urgent.”

More to come