The Lakes District Hospital has been hit with its 22nd service disruption since the start of 2025.
That’s according to Northern Health, adding it will run from 3:00 this afternoon (Monday) until 8:00 tomorrow morning.
“Over a three-month period, it is much higher than we would like to expect,” said Lisa Zetes-Zanatta, Vice President of Clinical Operations.
She added the disruptions were due to a doctor shortage in Burns Lake with a 55 per cent vacancy rate to cover the emergency room.
In April, two new doctors are expected to start in the village with Zetes-Zanatta expecting disruptions to happen less frequently afterwards.
“While we actively recruit and have physicians there that are working very hard to ensure they cover as many shifts as possible, we still had a period of time that we were experience interruptions,” Zetes-Zanatta said.
She added the hospital has a full nurse staff for emergency room coverage and is looking at implementing virtual nursing.
“We will still have one or two opening for physicians and will continue to recruit for them, but we think with the two new physicians, we shouldn’t see many vacancies.”
Along with being a benefit to Burns Lake, Zetes-Zanatta added the benefit will be felt in neighboring hospitals.
During a disruption, anyone experiencing a medical emergency is asked to call 911 and if unsure if the situation is an emergency, call 811.
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