With Northern Health’s inability to attract enough new health-care workers in the past five years, the MLA for Peace River North is calling on the provincial government to scrap health authorities like Northern Health and return to a system of 52 regional boards with local representation.
The call comes after the emergency room at the Hudson’s Hope Health Centre was temporarily closed for a third consecutive day.
Tuesday’s diversion was the 21st closure in the past 56 days in Hudson’s Hope. Last year, the emergency room in Chetwynd was shut down 40 times.
Travous Quibell, mayor of Hudson’s Hope, says the situation escalated last fall when the district lost its second physician. “We’re down one physician, and that’s putting a strain on the emergency department,” he said.
Since then, the priority has been placed on the remaining doctor to provide primary care, often forcing the emergency department to close. “We understand the mechanics of why these closures are happening, and that a single doctor can’t deal with patient load,” Quibell said.
Jordan Kealy, MLA for Peace River North, says major reform of B.C.’s health-care system is needed.
Kealy says he has been advocating in the B.C. legislature to address staffing shortages, adding, “When we finally get the NDP out, we need to clear these health authority boards.”
Kealy says the staffing shortage has developed over the past 20 years. “Rather than being proactive, we’re now in a reactive situation, and it’s our families that are going to be caught in the crossfire,” he said.
He says Hudson’s Hope is viewed as a lower priority, adding medical staff face heavy workloads and high-stress environments.
“When you’re consistently relying on one doctor, you don’t have a reliable backup,” Kealy said. “That clearly falls back on Northern Health… and that’s unacceptable.”
Quibell says constant closures with no end in sight jeopardize the lives of Hudson’s Hope residents. He adds he has not discussed a solution to the issue with Northern Health in a long time.
He suggests having locums rotating into the community, working with other health authorities, including those in Alberta, and bringing in online health-care to support the lone doctor. As for Kealy, he says the focus should be on expanding funding for local training.
Quibell says the seriousness of the issue is amplified by Hudson’s hope’s BC Ambulance Service station not being full time. Residents who need an ambulance are automatically diverted to either Chetwynd or Fort St. John, a trip of at least 45 minutes.
“It takes the golden hour out of the equation completely for people who have an emergent medical need here. It’s deeply concerning,” Quibell said. The golden hour is the first hour after the occurrence of a traumatic injury, considered the most critical for successful emergency treatment.
Northern Health’s website, which provides status updates on emergency department closures, is adding to the frustration. The automated system tells residents the Health Centre’s ER will reopen the next day after each temporary closure.
Even when Northern Health expects the ER will not reopen, the website automatically tells residents it will. As of Tuesday, the ER had been closed for three straight days.
Quibell says the website needs a human touch to ensure the correct information reaches those who need it the most.
CJDC-TV News reached out to Northern Health for a statement but did not receive a response before publication.
The province recruited 30 health-care professionals to northern B.C. between March 2025 and January 2026, including 7 doctors, 20 nurses and 1 nurse practitioner.
Northern Health has said it is actively recruiting skilled health-care staff to the region.