Residents in Port Hardy, B.C., rally against nearly 3-year overnight closure of ER

Dozens of people attended a rally in Port Hardy, B.C., on Friday afternoon to protest the ongoing overnight closure of an emergency room on the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

Island Health has closed the ER at the Port Hardy Hospital every day at 5 p.m., starting in January 2023, citing a staffing shortage.

“To have an emergency [room] closed after 5 [p.m.] is not acceptable whatsoever,” North Island Conservative MLA Anna Kindy told CBC News.

“When we’re looking at three years, that becomes, to me, incompetence.”

When the Port Hardy ER is closed, patients requiring emergency care are transported to Port McNeill — a 45-kilometre drive along a windy, dark highway dotted with black ice and herds of elk in winter.

Besides it being a treacherous drive, Kindy says the ER in Port McNeill is already overloaded and can’t handle the extra patients.

She says many people coming to the hospital in Port Hardy are from remote communities across the north island, and adding more time during emergencies can lead to worse health outcomes.

“If you haven’t had timely care, sometimes the outcome isn’t as good,” she said.

Kindy also pointed out that the most recent report from Island Health’s chief medical officer shows worse health outcomes and a lower life expectancy for people on the north island, and that residents there often suffer from complex conditions that need urgent care.

Nations in need

Hereditary Chief David Mungo Knox with the local Kwakiutl First Nation says many of his people are suffering from the effects of intergenerational trauma.

“Addiction is so ugly and bad with alcohol, opioids and suicide,” Knox told CBC News.

“We just really need Island Health to pull its socks up to look after the north island better.”

Knox says he is advocating for all the nations on the northern tip of the island.

In March 2024, the Gwa’Sala-Nakwaxda’xw Nations, two north island First Nations near Port Hardy, declared a state of emergency following the deaths of 11 members.

The nations said that many died due to drug poisoning and alcohol.

$30M investment

Island Health says it has had success attracting physicians and medical staff to the region, but it’s still having trouble recruiting X-ray and lab technologists, as well as ER nurses.

“Despite these challenges, recruitment of [health-care] professionals to North Vancouver Island remains a key priority,” the health authority said in a written statement.

A recent $30 million investment has resulted in better care in the region, Island Health says, including a mobile CT scanner.

The health authority said it has also added more mental health and substance use supports to the north island region.

Staying positive

Port Hardy Mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt says, although the overnight closure of the hospital’s ER is hard to deal with, she feels it’s important to emphasize the successes of the past three years.

“Some of the progress is not being seen by the community,” Corbett-Labatt told CBC News.

“We don’t want to make it hard to recruit the very health-care workers we are hoping to recruit to our area because we’re being so negative.”

The mayor says successful doctor recruitment has helped many residents in the region have access to a family physician, which in turn has helped keep people out of the ER.

Corbett-Labatt says in some ways it’s been beneficial to have the hospital closed consistently, compared to the sporadic closures that had been happening for years across the north island.