Vancouver Island hospital closing ER overnight for 2 months due to lack of staff

Island Health saysa lack of staff has forced it to begin overnight closures of the emergency room at a small hospital near Victoria.

A statement from the health authority said the closures at theSaanichPeninsula Hospital beginFriday night.

It said the emergency department will be closed from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night until at least Sept. 4.

The health authority said the closures will ensure doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and medical imaging staffat the 85-bed hospital just south of Sidney, B.C., are available during the rest of the day, when demand for emergency services peaks.

Estimates from Island Health show an average of 11 people visit theSaanichPeninsula emergency room overnight and two people arrive by ambulance.

During the overnight closures, ambulances will be diverted to Royal Jubilee Hospital or Victoria General Hospital, both about 20 kilometres southin Victoria.

Marko Peljhan, Island Health vice-president of clinical services for central and southern Vancouver Island, said no other in-patient services at the hospital will be affected.

"We acknowledge this is not an ideal situation for the community and we sincerely apologize for this temporary service reduction,'' Peljhan said in the statement.

Staffing shortages are linked to recent temporary closures of many smaller or rural emergency rooms or health clinics, from Port Hardy and Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island to Clearwater in the southern Interior, Chetwynd and Mackenzie in the north and New Denver and Creston in the southeast.