Lillooet ER closed until Friday; paramedics note troubling conditions
Posted March 19, 2025 7:01 pm.
Last Updated March 19, 2025 7:02 pm.
Patients needing emergency care in Lillooet are looking at a two-hour commute to the nearest hospital in Kamloops, with the town’s ER closed yet again for a two-day stretch until Friday morning.
Ian Tait from the Ambulance Paramedics of BC says union members are stepping up but a more sustainable solution is badly needed.
He says it’s been a difficult few years given the COVID-19 pandemic, heat domes, the opioid crisis and other major health concerns.
“And now this kind of province wide health care staffing problem. It’s us — we are the contingency plan. When a hospital goes down the ambulance service and the ambulances become the emergency room,” Tait explained.
Tait says rural communities across B.C. are seeing similar problems to Lillooet, trying to attract staff to live and work there, because it’s a tough sell to pay a qualified professional the same amount of money as they would make in a larger city with access to more services.
Last week, Lillooet Mayor Laurie Hopfl told 1130 NewsRadio residents face a life-threatening situation if they suffer a heart attack, stroke, or severe injury. Since then, the ER has closed another four times for five days total.
The Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, the nearest hospital, is roughly 170 kilometres from Lillooet.
Tait says transport times back and forth from the nearest operating ER only increase the risks, and it means fewer ambulances are available locally.
Last month, Health Minister Josie Osborne was grilled in the Legislature on the state of B.C.’s emergency health system.
Osborne said the province continues to work to improve the health-care system.
“But we’re also going to continue to do other things to build out the health-care system in ways where people do not have to rely on emergency rooms as much,” she added.
She says the province is making good progress on hiring more staff and attracting foreign-trained professionals. She also says the number of ER closures and diversions in B.C. is actually trending downwards.
