The recurrence of temporary closures of hospital emergency rooms in the Thompson-Okanagan region, in British Columbia, is worrying the population. The emergency department at Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt experienced 16 days of complete or partial shutdown this year.
On October 20, 2023, Shelley Thompson and her parents were very scared. That day, the resident of Lower Nicola, located near Merritt, received a call from her father-in-law who told her that her mother was having trouble breathing.
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The fact that our emergency department isn’t staying open makes Merritt residents feel like second-class citizens, Shelley Thompson said.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Camille Pauvarel
He told me: “Shelley, come, we need help, we are in the hospital, the emergency room is closed, your mother is not well,” recounts the sixty-year-old.
Shelley Thomson said she found them in the parking lot with her mother in an ambulance. They were trying to stabilize her, they told me they couldn’t get her into the hospital, they had to take her to Kamloops, and quickly.
The Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops is more than 80 kilometers from that in Merritt. Shelley’s mother, Darlene Komonoski, 90, suffers from congestive heart failure, a chronic illness.
When she has a cardiac event, her heart doesn’t pump enough to circulate oxygen through her system, it’s like she’s suffocating, her daughter explains.
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Shelley Thompson is the primary caregiver for her mother Darlene Komonoski. She lives a few blocks away in Lower Nicola.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Camille Pauvarel
Darlene Komonoski is not the only one in her household with poor health, as her husband, Paul, 86, has a pacemaker and his poor circulation in his legs can cause infections.
The couple has lived in Merritt since the 1970s and is able to live alone, with regular visits from their children.
We stayed because the hospital is a 10-minute drive away, but it’s unsettling knowing you can go there and find no one.
A quote from Lower Nicola resident Darlene Komonoski
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Darlene and Paul Komonoski have lived in Merritt since the 1970s and worry about not being able to get to an emergency room 10 miles away if needed.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Camille Pauvarel
On Friday October 20, 2023, the emergency room at Nicola Valley Hospital remained closed for 24 hours, with the Interior Health Authority reporting a limited availability of doctors (New window) (in English).
Municipalities seeking change
Since January 2023, the 30 emergency departments of hospitals in the Interior have experienced multiple interruptions. The last long weekend in August, which includes Labor Day, five emergency rooms were closed in the region.
Each time, the reasons given by the Interior Health Authority were limited capacity of nursing staff.
Mayor of Merritt since 2022, Michael Goetz is scrupulously monitoring the situation: At the beginning, I had the feeling of letting the population down.
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Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz says he has received upcoming dates for his city’s emergency room closures through the end of the year.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Camille Pauvarel
In a binder started in June, the elected official brought together the Health Authority’s press releases on hospital closures as well as his discussions with the various government authorities.
If I had started it in January, it would probably be twice as thick, he says, turning the pages.
On July 11, 2024, Mr. Goetz sent an invoice to Prime Minister, David Eby, for the funds committed, according to him, by his Municipality to alleviate the situation. It includes additional costs for ambulance transportation to Kamloops.
Our firefighters had to intervene to fill the gaps and take a lot of their budget, he says.
According to Michael Goetz, approximately 14,000 people depend on Merritt Hospital. The elected representative includes the five First Nations of the Nicola Valley, the 7,000 inhabitants of Merritt as well as other small surrounding communities, such as Lower Nicola.
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Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz is stepping up efforts to make emergency rooms open 24 hours a day.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Camille Pauvarel
I don’t want to accept the fact that it’s a normal situation because, as soon as we start doing it, they’ll look at it and be like, “You know what? Nobody cares. Let’s close the hospital and everyone can go to Kamloops.”
A quote from Michael Goetz, Mayor of Merritt
In October 2023, the province committed $7.5 million to Merritt, Oliver and Salmon Arm to stabilize emergency physician coverage at hospitals in those communities.
However, according to the mayor, Merritt has still not received his share.
The South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver is at the top of the list of closed emergency rooms in the region.
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Since last March, a group made up of doctors, municipal councilors and residents has been trying to find solutions.
One is to provide a list of temporary or long-term accommodations to applicants for healthcare positions.
Health care is not the responsibility of local authorities, but we are the level of government closest to people and the ones they come to see when they are concerned about what is happening in their community, explains Aimee Grice, municipal councilor in Oliver.
South Okanagan General Hospital covers the communities from Oliver to Osoyoos. When it is closed, the population of this area must go to Penticton, about forty kilometers from Oliver.
According to the Interior Health Authority, Nicola Valley Hospital and South Okanagan General Hospital are each seeking four full-time and part-time physicians trained in the emergency field.
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As of October, Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt had been closed 16 days since the start of 2024.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Camille Pauvarel
A few weeks before the provincial elections, many candidates are taking up the subject. The proposals from the different parties are available here.
The emergency departments at Merritt and Oliver Hospital were closed again for part of the last weekend of September.
Since her mother’s incident last year, Shelley has never turned off her phone. Our sense of security in our hospital has completely disappeared, she says.
