Okanagan hospital unable to provide emergency care for 31st time this year

Residents in Oliver have been given about an hour’s notice that the town’s hospital will be closing down its emergency department for six hours today.

South Okanagan General Hospital hasn’t got enough doctors to operate the department between 1 pm and 7 pm, Interior Health said in a public bulletin.

That bulletin was issued just before noon.

Interior Health said people living in Oliver and the surrounding area should head to Penticton if they need emergency care.

Other services at the hospital have not been affected.

Late last night, Interior Health separately announced that Clearwater’s emergency department would also be closing down today.

Emergency services were suspended 31 times at South Okanagan General Hospital in 2023, the most of all the Interior's hospitals.

So far this year – according to available data – the department has been closed 31 times.

It was closed eight times in August alone, and 21 times between January 1 and July 31.

Alongside today’s closure, it was also closed on Sunday, Sept. 15.