Vancouver-area hospital turned away patients at emergency department – CTV

July 24, 2024

Patients who went to Mission Memorial Hospital’s emergency department on Tuesday evening were told to go to Abbotsford General or Maple Ridge hospitals, the first time a Vancouver-area acute care facility has turned away patients due to critical staffing shortages.

Fraser Health did not make the service disruption public, which is a departure from the policy in other health authorities to notify the community that they would not find medical care at a particular ER and to go elsewhere.

Pre-pandemic, such service disruptions were unheard of, and despite contracting to for-profit staffing agencies, the problem is only getting worse.

In a statement attributed to site medical director, Dr. Paul Theron, he wrote “Mission Memorial Hospital Emergency Department was not on diversion,” instead calling it “service adaptations” due to “physician staffing challenges.”

Read more: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-area-hospital-turned-away-patients-at-emergency-department-1.6975313