Fort Nelson General Hospital has resumed outpatient laboratory and medical imaging services, as the process of returning to full operations continues following the Parker Lake wildfire evacuation.
Northern Health has been taking a phased approach to restarting services at Fort Nelson Hospital since Monday’s lifting of the evacuation order by Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nation. The first of those services was the Emergency Department, which reopened on Monday, May 28.
With the laboratory and medical imaging departments in full operation effective Friday, May 31, Fort Nelson General Hospital is able to resume admission of inpatients requiring ongoing care – completing three of the four phases of restoring services. The final step will be reopening and returning residents to the hospital’s multi-level care unit, for which planning is underway.
In addition to hospital services, programs at the Fort Nelson Health Unit (Community Health Services) have also returned to regular hours and operations.
NH continues to encourage anyone who needs life-threatening emergency care (i.e. chest pains, difficulty breathing, or severe bleeding) to call 9-1-1 for transport to the nearest available and appropriate facility, and to make use of options for non-urgent care needs such as the NH Virtual Primary & Community Care Clinic (1-844-645-7811, daily from 10 am to 10 pm), the First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day program (1-855-344-3800, seven days per week from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm), or to book an appointment to see a pharmacist for 21 minor ailments and prescription contraceptives.
For the latest information on the status of local evacuation alerts and other information, visit the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality website.