Coming as no surprise, Northern Health has confirmed they will not be open on Christmas Day.
This year, Christmas falls on a Thursday, which is not a weekend, but, after local Sarrah Gachter asked the question as to coverage over the Christmas Break, Northern Health responded with their hours of coverage for Tumbler Ridge.
Gachter was worried that the emergency department would be closed for five days straight—Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing Day, and then into the weekend.
“As December 24 is not a statutory holiday, the Emergency Department will be open for its regular hours,” replied Northern Health, pointing out that emergency care is available by calling 911 for an ambulance to transfer people out of town.
However, other emergency departments about the Peace, including Fort St. John, Dawson Creek and Chetwynd will remain open, as they are all 24/7 emergency department facilities.
Already, one community member has died on the weekend. While there is no way to know whether they would have survived if there had been support at the local emergency department. In addition, both the mayor and councillor Nikki Noksana encountered critical medical emergencies, which were made worse by their decisions to not take up critical ambulance time, as there issues happened outside of regular hours.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
