With Northern Health’s inability to attract enough new health-care workers in the past five years, the MLA for Peace River North is calling on the provincial government to scrap health authorities like Northern Health and return to a system of 52 regional boards with local representation.
The call comes after the emergency room at the Hudson’s Hope Health Centre was temporarily closed for a third consecutive day.
Tuesday’s diversion was the 21st closure in the past 56 days in Hudson’s Hope. Last year, the emergency room in Chetwynd was shut down 40 times. There is no indication the frequency of closures at the clinic and others in the area will slow.
Travous Quibell, mayor of Hudson’s Hope, says the situation escalated last fall when the district lost its second physician. “We’re down one physician, and that’s putting a strain on the emergency department,” he said.
Since then, the priority has been placed on the remaining doctor to provide primary care, often forcing the emergency department to close. “We understand the mechanics of why these closures are happening, and that a single doctor can’t deal with patient load,” Quibell said.
Jordan Kealy, MLA for Peace River North, says major reform of B.C.’s health-care system is needed.
Kealy says he has been advocating in the B.C. legislature to address staffing shortages, adding, “When we finally get the NDP out, we need to clear these health authority boards.”
Kealy says the staffing shortage has developed over the past 20 years. “Rather than being proactive, we’re now in a reactive situation, and it’s our families that are going to be caught in the crossfire,” he said.
Northern Health’s website, which provides status updates on emergency department closures, is adding to the frustration. The automated system tells residents the Health Centre’s ER will reopen the next day after each temporary closure.
Even when Northern Health expects the ER will not reopen, the website automatically tells residents it will. As of Tuesday, the ER had been closed for three straight days. Quibell says the website needs a human touch to ensure the correct information reaches those who need it the most.
Northern Health was contacted for a statement but no response was received before publication.
The province recruited 30 health-care professionals to northern B.C. between March 3035 and January 2026, including 7 doctors, 20 nurses and 1 nurse practitioner.
Northern Health has said it is actively recruiting skilled health-care staff to the region.
-with files from Noah Abel CJDC
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