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Interior Health announces year-end closures for Kaslo ER

Nelson Daily Staff
By Nelson Daily Staff
December 28th, 2013

Interior Health announced another round of closures to the Kaslo Victorian Community Health Centre Emergency Department to ring in the New Year.

The closures to the Victorian Community Health Centre Emergency Department began Friday afternoon (December 27).

The new dates are:

  • 5 p.m. Dec. 27 to 9 a.m. Dec. 30
  • 5 p.m. Dec. 30 to 9 a.m. Dec. 31
  • 5 p.m. Dec. 31 to 9 a.m. Jan. 2

Outside these hours, the emergency department will be open.

The recent closures come after Interior Health revealed a group of doctors would like to explore a “fee-for-service” option rather than “contract compensation model”.

The physician’s proposal has allowed Interior Health to put off changes to emergency department hours at Victorian Community Health Centre until April 1, 2014.

The Victorian Community Health Centre Emergency Room hours were scheduled to change to weekday, daytime hours of operation on Monday, January 6, 2014.

Residents in the Kaslo area should take note of the following if they require care when the emergency department is closed:

  • In the event of an emergency, call 9-1-1.
  •  
  • Visit the emergency department at Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson.
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  •  For non-urgent needs, visit a walk-in clinic in Nelson.
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  • Note the weekend and holiday hours of your local pharmacy/drug store, and ensure your prescriptions are up to date.
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  • Call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1 (24 hour service), if you are unsure about your need to go to the emergency department.

Interior Health continues to actively recruit for permanent and locum physicians and regrets this temporary change to normal services.

IH will continue to provide regular updates on any additional changes to normal services.

Categories: Health

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