Delta Hospital ER closed for second night in a row

A Delta Hospital sign outside the emergency room is shown.

The emergency department at Delta Hospital will be closed overnight again Sunday for the second consecutive time due to a physician shortage.

In a notice sent to residents at 5 p.m., Fraser Health said a “temporary service interruption” in the ER would begin at 9:30 p.m. and last until 6:30 a.m. Monday.

“The service interruption will begin at 9:30 p.m. to ensure all patients already in the emergency department can be seen by a physician before they end their shift at 1:30 a.m.,” the memo reads.

The emergency room was also closed overnight Saturday with Fraser Health citing a lack of available doctors.

Read more: Doctors speak up: What’s behind waits and closures at B.C. emergency departments

During “service interruptions,” nurses are on hand to provide basic first aid to patients or help transfer them to neighbouring hospitals.

“Fraser Health is working closely with B.C. Emergency Health Services to ensure patients requiring a high-level of care are directed or transferred to an appropriate hospital emergency service,” the health authority said, and advised anyone with a life-threatening emergency to call 911 to be taken to the closest available facility.

Fraser Health said all other emergency rooms in the region will be open Sunday night but wait times may be longer.

Elsewhere in B.C., overnight ER closures at Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt and Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater were announced Sunday.

Such closures are more commonplace in smaller communities but were unheard of in the Lower Mainland until recently.

Read more: Peace Arch Hospital becomes third Vancouver-area ER to turn away some patients

Last summer, Mission Memorial became the first Vancouver-area hospital to turn away patients from its emergency room, and has implemented more “temporary service adaptations” in the ensuing months, the most recent being two weeks ago.

Other Metro Vancouver hospitals affected by the staffing issues include Peace Arch and Lions Gate.