Conservative North Island MLA Dr. Anna Kindy has continued to advocate for the Port Hardy hospital to reopen with around-the-clock services.
The Port Hardy hospital lost its 24/7 service roughly two years ago due to staffing shortages that are happening not just all over B.C., but across all of Canada as well. The hospital currently operates seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
When the emergency department closes, patients have no other option but to travel to the Port McNeill Hospital, which is about a 30-minute drive down the highway.
Kindy, who was elected as MLA back in October of 2024 after defeating the NDP's Michele Babchuk and the Green Party's Nic Dedeluk, posted on her official social media page back on March 24 saying she had just come back from visiting Port Hardy.
"I worked in that hospital in the early 90’s when it was a fully functioning hospital," she wrote. "Now the hospital is filled with long term care patients waiting for placement and there are no acute care admissions. The hospital has become an emergency department only except the emergency department closes at 5 p.m. for close to two years. Under the Island Health authority and this NDP government, a fully functioning hospital in an isolated community has turned into an urgent care center. This is putting people’s lives at risk."
Kindy then posted to her official social media page about the Port Hardy hospital once again on Friday, April 11, where she reiterated her statements about the emergency department continuing to close at 5 p.m. over the last two years, the hospital beds still being filled with people waiting for treatment, and there's no longer any acute hospital admissions.
"An eight-year-old girl with severe asthma recently almost died trying to get to [the] closest functioning hospital," she wrote. "Others have not been so lucky."
Kindy continued on, noting she asked the Minister of Health twice during Health Estimates if she would commit to reopening the Port Hardy Hospital as a fully functioning hospital, meaning "a 24/7 emergency department and admissions to acute care beds."
"The Minister of Health would not commit," added Kindy. "The community of Port Hardy deserves better."
The North Island Gazette contacted Island Health for comment and was provided a written statement by the organization.
"Island Health remains committed to resuming 24/7 emergency department services in Port Hardy and we are continuing to focus significant efforts on that goal," the organization said. "While there are currently no specific timelines, we are exploring increasing the hours the emergency department in Port Hardy is open."
Island Health noted the recent addition of physicians to the community and hospital is an "important step towards further stabilizing and enhancing local services. However, physician coverage is not the only limiting factor to reinstating 24/7 emergency department services."
The organization confirmed it is also working to recruit and train other clinical staff required for stable 24/7 emergency services, including emergency department certified nurses and laboratory staff.
"We are seeing success with local solutions like Island Health’s Rural Emergency Department Education Program (REDEP) to train nurses locally. Two registered nurses graduated from the program in August and are now working in North Vancouver Island. An additional five are expected to graduate in 2025 (three in April, two in October). Patients are being admitted at Port Hardy hospital and there are currently three local physicians providing care for inpatients, when deemed clinically safe and appropriate. The work of these dedicated local physicians, alongside our care teams, is also supporting patients to be transferred back to the North Island region more quickly, if they are initially taken to another hospital for a higher level of care."
Island Health added it welcomes feedback and encourages support from elected officials to help ensure "the health care needs of people in the communities we serve are being met."
"Whenever there are serious patient safety events in our hospitals, Island Health’s clinical teams document them and investigate what happened. North Vancouver Island clinical leadership reviewed recent Patient Safety Learning System entries and consulted with frontline staff and partners, but did not find a formal record of a recent safety event involving a child with asthma. People are encouraged to contact Island Health’s Patient Care Quality Office if they have concerns about the care they or a loved one received. This ensures all care complaints are documented and receive a formal response."
