The Fort St. James emergency room will only be open intermittently next month as the community awaits the arrival of doctor reinforcements.
Northern Health has arranged for locum coverage to keep the ER open at Stuart Lake Hospital for nine days in August. It will be open between 2 p.m. and 5 a.m. on both Aug. 1-2 and Aug. 22-23. It will also be open between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Aug. 2, 9, 16 and 23 and between 8 a.m. on Aug. 25 to 5 a.m. on Aug. 27.
Additionally, the clinic in the community will be closed between Aug. 3-7.
Last week Northern Health announced the successful recruitment of three doctors to the community, however the first one isn't scheduled to arrive until the fall and will only be working part time. Two full-time doctors are expected to arrive in early 2013.
Currently, the community has just one full-time physician.
