Northern Health advises of higher patient volumes and waiting times at Prince Rupert Regional Emergency Department

The last 24 hours have made for some challenges for those seeking medical care at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, with Northern Health issuing an advisory on Thursday towards an increase in volume of patients calling on the Emergency Department, something which has resulted in some longer than usual wait times at the Summit Avenue Health facility.

To try to alleviate some of that congestion, Northern Health has outlined some options for those who may not require urgent medical care, but may be able to make use of other resources towards their concerns.

To help reduce strain on emergency and acute care resources, those with less urgent care needs are advised to visit their primary care provider/family physician’s office during regular business hours, or to contact the NH Virtual Primary & Community Care Clinic (10 am to 10 pm daily, including weekends and statutory holidays)

Those patients who have urgent medical need however are urged to continue to make use of the Emergency Department to have their situations addressed.

The advisory did not indicate what has made for the spike in Emergency Room visits, or other areas of note that could be making for the challenges to Prince Rupert health care at the moment.

The Prince Rupert Hospital has issued these advisories a few times in recent months.

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, who was recently appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health also made note of the Information release from Northern Health, though as it was from the Health Authority she does not provide any background as to why the current spike ER visits has come about.

You can review those past items of note and other areas of Health Care themes from our archive pages here.