Island Health is advising community residents and visitors to the area that the Port Hardy Hospital (PHH) Emergency Department will be temporarily closed overnight from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. starting Tuesday, October 11 to the morning of Friday, October 14 due to limited physician availability. The Emergency Department will be open each day between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
During this time of Emergency Department closure, all other inpatient services will continue as normal at PHH.
Anyone experiencing a medical emergency should call 911 or, if possible, proceed to Port McNeill Hospital Emergency Department. Island Health and BC Emergency Health Services have protocols in place to ensure patients who call 911 are transported to the appropriate site.
If you are unsure if you are experiencing a medical situation requiring a visit to an emergency department, confidential health information and advice from a registered nurse is available toll free, 24/7 by calling HealthLink BC at 811.
Island Health acknowledges this is not an ideal situation for the community and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience experienced by this temporary service interruption.
Island Health is taking action locally, working with our partners, to make the North Island an even more attractive place for health care professionals to practice. This includes adding more support staffing resources within our sites, expanding our retention and recruitment activities, enhancing our local leadership and educator teams and investing in infrastructure improvements. There has been significant effort focused on recruitment and retention of doctors and other care providers, and this continues to be a key priority moving forward.