(Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

By Aaron Schulze

ER Closure

Clearwater emergency department to close for seven more nights; active streak hits 23

Aug 26, 2022 | 9:42 AM

CLEARWATER, B.C. — Nobody likes you when you’re 23.

According to Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell, the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital Emergency Department will be closed for seven straight nights from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., starting Friday (Aug. 26) and ending Sept. 2.

The new seven-night closure begins the same day 24-hour emergency service was set to resume in Clearwater after previously closing for 16 consecutive nights dating back to Aug. 11.

The closures — or diversions, as Interior Health calls them — are due to limited staffing availability.

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The department will be open during daytime hours.

Speaking to CFJC Today Thursday (Aug. 25), Blackwell announced that a new doctor will be starting in a few days at the hospital.

Residents who need emergency care while the department is closed are asked to call 9-1-1 or HealthLink BC at 8-1-1, or go to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.