FRASER Health says that due to physician staffing challenges at Mission Memorial Hospital, it is implementing a temporary service interruption beginning Sunday, November 9 at 5 p.m. to Monday, November 10 at 8 a.m.

The service interruption will begin at 5 p.m. to ensure all patients already in the emergency department can be seen by a physician before they end their shift at 11 p.m.

This service interruption impacts the Emergency Department only. All other services at Mission Memorial Hospital are available.

During the service interruption, emergency-trained nurses will continue to be on site and available to support walk-in patients needing basic care, assist with re-direction of care, and/or transfer patients with urgent needs to a neighbouring hospital.

Fraser Health says it is working closely with B.C. Emergency Health Services to ensure patients requiring a higher level of care are directed or transferred to an appropriate hospital emergency service.

Anyone with a life-threatening emergency, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing or severe bleeding, should call 9-1-1 immediately and will be transported to the nearest available and appropriate facility.

All other Fraser Health Emergency Departments remain open and have emergency physicians on site; however, high numbers of people seeking care and human resources challenges at many of our hospital emergency departments may lead to longer wait times for patients with non-urgent care concerns.

To help ensure Emergency Departments are available for people who need emergency health care, Fraser Health says it encourages people with non-urgent health needs to know their non-emergency care options:

• Call our Fraser Health Crisis Line 24/7 at 1-877-820-7444
• Call Fraser Health Virtual Care at 1-800-314-0999 to speak with a registered nurse from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. You can also call 8-1-1 outside of those hours to speak with a health service navigator or a registered nurse.

“We recognize how important consistent access to emergency care is for the Mission community and we are actively working to address physician staffing gaps as they arise to maintain service continuity. Should further service interruptions become necessary, we will communicate this to the community in advance to support our patients and their families in feeling informed and prepared,” says Fraser Health.