There will be no emergency medical service in Kaslo this weekend due to limited physician availability.
Interior Health is advising residents of the village that the Victorian Community Health Centre Emergency Department will be closed from Friday at 5 p.m. until Monday at 8 a.m. because there aren’t enough doctors to staff the facility.
“Interior Health continues to actively recruit for permanent and locum physicians and regrets this temporary change to normal services,” says Karl Hardt, communications officer.
The health centre has been struggling to staff the facility at the north end of Kootenay Lake for quite some time. Last September Interior Health announced the Kaslo ER would close evenings and weekends, citing physician burnout as the reason for the change. But the decision proved so unpopular with the local community that Interior Health rescinded the change before it ever took effect. Since then, services have been scaled back at times.
Over the weekend people should call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency or visit the emergency department at Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson. Routine calls should be dealt with at the walk-in clinic in Nelson and people should ensure their prescriptions are up to date in advance of the closure.
HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 (24-hour service) is available to anyone unsure about their need to go to the emergency department.