British ColumbiaPeople in Fort St. James, B.C., are calling for a recruiter to help attract doctors to work in the Nats’oojeh Hospital and Health Centre which, due to staffing challenges, has had over 40 emergency room closures since it opened in January.Mayor, Regional District and local First Nations want help bringing more doctors to the community Hanna Petersen · CBC News · Posted: Nov 04, 2025 12:17 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesAn image of the new hospital in Fort St. James, B.C. (B.C. Ministry of Health)A brand new B.C. hospital has closed its emergency room more than 40 times since it opened in January, due to a shortage of doctors, and locals are frustrated.Fort St. James’ Nats’oojeh Hospital and Health Centre serves the immediate municipality, as well as several remote Indigenous communities in the surrounding area.In light of the closures, community leaders have come together to find a solution.Fort St. James Mayor Martin Elphee, the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako, and the Chiefs of Nak’azdli Whut’en, Binche Whut’en and Tl’azt’en First Nation have sent a letter to the Ministry of Health calling for a healthcare recruiter to be specifically assigned to Fort St. James. LISTEN | Local leaders call for urgent action:Daybreak North9:36Fort St James doctor recruitmentLocal ER at new hospital already closed 40 times this year“Our First Nations communities rely on that ER as well as all the rest of us and it’s just such a shame when we have such a beautiful brand new hospital,” said Judy Greenaway, a director for the Bulkley Nechako Regional District. The Nats’oojeh Hospital and Health Centre welcomed its first patients on January 14, 2025. While the state-of-the-art hospital is more than three times the size of the previous building, including a bigger emergency department with two treatment rooms and a trauma bay, it’s been closed dozens of times this year as the region struggles with staffing shortages. More doctors could be leaving Greenaway says the problem is urgent because four of the Fort St. James’ six doctors may be leaving in the spring. One doctor is retiring and three others have contracts that end in March 2026, she said.“No more doctors are scheduled at this time to come to our hospital that we know of,” she said. “If we have our own recruiter, we can be very specific to the needs of Fort St. James and the urgency we are facing.” Nak’azdli Chief Colleen Erickson says many people travel far to get to the hospital.“We have outlying communities that drive up to an hour to access medical care here in Fort St. James. When there’s closures they have to drive another hour to get to Vanderhoof, which is the nearest medical centre,” she said. When the new hospital opened Health Minister Josie Osborne said in a statement that it is important that members of the communities around Fort St. James be able to receive care closer to home rather than having to travel to Prince George or Vancouver. Signs in the new Fort St. James hospital are written in English and Dakelh. (B.C. Ministry of Health)’High priority’“We’re just frustrated. We just want to be heard,” Elphee said. In April, Northern Health hired a Health Care Recruitment Coordinator for Burns Lake. The one-year position was funded by the Village of Burns Lake, the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako and the Northern Interior Rural Division of Family Practice. Elphee and Greenaway want a similar approach. “We are even willing as a group to put money up to hire that recruiter, but we need them to work with Northern Health so that we can get the same people working on the same thing,” Greenaway added.In a statement to CBC News, Northern Health acknowledged that continued staffing challenges are leading to service interruptions at the emergency department. However, it said its recruiters are prioritizing the hospital, and it’s exploring various solutions.“We are exploring additional supports for emergency department operations in Fort St. James, including virtual support and recruitment of nurse practitioners and other providers,” the health authority said in a statement. “[We] are willing to collaborate with local officials on targeted efforts to attract health professionals to the area.”The Ministry of Health also said Fort St. James is a high priority, and that it will continue to work with Northern Health and others on physician recruitment and retention. In a statement, Osborne said she’d been in touch with Elphee and Greenaway on Monday morning.”I appreciate the concerns they brought forward together with council, Nak’azdli Whut’en, Tl’azt’en Nation and Binche Whut’en,” she said.ABOUT THE AUTHORHanna Petersen is a reporter for CBC News, working out of the Prince George, B.C., bureau. You can email her at hanna.petersen@cbc.ca.
Fort St. James, B.C., has a brand new emergency room, but not enough doctors to staff it
