News

Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer (PHO), has issued the following statement:

“As British Columbia’s provincial health officer, I am issuing an order to end the public-health emergency for COVID-19 and rescinding all related orders.

“Since March 2020, we have been in a provincial public-health emergency to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. While COVID-19 is not gone, we now have high levels of protection in the health-care system and in communities throughout BC.

People experiencing a mental-health or substance-use crisis in Prince George will soon have access to a new community-led Peer Assisted Care Team (PACT) to help them stabilize and find the support they need.

Northern Health is proactively moving patients from Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James, as part of advance planning related to the Pitka Creek wildfire activity in the area.

Stuart Lake Hospital remains open. The hospital/emergency department remains open for urgent care needs and will continue to run until the status of evacuation alerts or orders significantly changes. Lab and medical imaging services will also continue.

The B.C. health system was impacted by the global CrowdStrike disruption on July 18. We are pleased to share as of July 20, that due to the tremendous efforts of the Northern Health teams and our partners involved in this response, the majority of systems and services have now returned to normal operations and any major risks have been mitigated. Northern Health switchboards are fully operational for individuals who need to connect with this service.

While we are still working through the disruption we’re pleased to share there was very minimal patient impact today and all services remained available. We are grateful to our teams who worked through the night and throughout the day today to minimize patient and provider impact and to ensure health care services were available. For more information, see the BC Government statement.

Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, has released the following statement in response to the global system disruption that is affecting many health-authority-owned facilities:

“Over the night of Thursday, July 18, 2024, BC was made aware of a global system disruption that is affecting many health-authority-owned facilities, including hospitals. Emergency services, including 911 and ambulances, are not impacted by this disruption and are operating as usual.

The B.C. health system has been impacted by the global Crowdstrike disruption which is impacting our networks and computers across all systems. 

Our primary concern is the continuity and quality of patient care. We have implemented contingency plans to ensure that our health care services remain operational, and that patient care is not disrupted to the best of our ability. Please refer to this website page for any updates. 

Northern Health is preparing for the potential for an increase in wildfire activity in the region, due to recent weather conditions and forecasts for the coming weeks.