The emergency department at Mission Memorial Hospital is set to close overnight Friday due to a shortage of available doctors, Fraser Health says.
The hospital will reopen Saturday 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 11:00 p.m.,” the health authority said.
“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 to make sure patients with high needs are taken to alternative hospitals.
“Anyone with a life-threatening emergency, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing or severe bleeding, should call 911 immediately and [they] will be transported to the nearest available and appropriate facility.”
The temporary closure only impacts the hospital’s emergency room, and all other services will be available as normal.
Nicki Ropp, director of mental health and wellness with Ambulance Paramedics, says their members are concerned about the closure happening on Halloween.
“Just the nature of Halloween, people being outside, and it’s darker sooner — we definitely do see a higher call volume on nights like these, and that’s why BC EHS [BC Emergency Health Services] has been trying to up-staff their ambulances and create extra suport for all the communities in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver,” Ropp told 1130 NewsRadio.
Ropp says ambulances and paramedics that would normally be taken to Mission Memorial Hospital will likely be taken to either Abbotsford Regional Hospital or Ridge Meadows Hospital.
This interruption is not the hospital emergency room’s first this year; the facility has had similar closures in February, March, and August.
Earlier this year, the health authority announced Mission’s emergency department will be undergoing an $18-million renovation. This comes after the facility was flooded in January, forcing repairs and also leading to officials reconsidering how the space is used.
“The expanded Emergency Department will be 35 per cent larger, increasing care spaces by 17 to a total of 41,” it announced on May 15.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and be completed in spring 2027.
— With files from Charles Brockman