It seems it was an either-or dilemma.
Either the emergency department of Boundary District Hospital in Grand Forks could temporarily close or the 12 inpatient beds at the hospital could be shuttered for the time being.
Interior Health Authority made the decision Wednesday to temporarily close the 12 inpatient beds, citing a shortage of registered and licensed practical nurses.
The inpatient beds will remain closed until more nurses can be hired and the hospital returns to more stable staffing levels.
No timeline was given.
"I'm not happy this is happening," said Grand Fork Mayor Brian Taylor.
"But I met with hospital officials who explained this had to be done to protect our emergency ward."
The emergency room at Boundary District Hospital is open 24/7 and will remain so as the dozen inpatient beds are taken out of commission for now.
Patients in beds at the hospital were discharged if their condition allowed or were transported to other locations, relative to their needs.
That likely means just under two hours by ambulance away to Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail or two-hours-and-fifteen-minutes away to Kelowna General Hospital.
"The whole region is dependent on that emergency ward," said Taylor.
"We didn't want to lose that. There was a choice to partially close emergency and partially close inpatient beds, but that would have endangered people because we wouldn't have had enough emergency capacity."
What's happening now at Boundary District Hospital is people who come into the emergency room are assessed by a doctor and treated and if they need to stay overnight they are referred to the most appropriate out-of-town hospital.
Patients can be transferred by ambulance and for serious cases there's a landing pad beside the hospital so patients can be transported by helicopter or by fixed-wing aircraft from the airport.
The mayor admitted all of those options are "very expensive."
The situation isn't just a medical one, but a social one.
Patients who are placed in a hospital bed two hours away are stranded from their families.
The population of Grand Forks is 4,500 and another 4,500 live in the hospital's catchment area, which is essentially the large swatch from Christina Lake to Big White.
"Like many other hospitals, Boundary District Hospital has had trouble attracting employees, especially RNs, LPNs and lab workers. After two years of COVID, health care workers are burnt out and there's a lack of employees in the whole province," said Taylor.
"And any nurse that is interested has trouble finding accommodation. Grand Forks has committed to working with the local hospital to address housing needs."
Prince George-Valemount Liberal MLA Shirley Bond, who is also health critic, agrees with the mayor.
"Obviously we're concerned about the situation in Grand Forks," she said.
"But it's part of a bigger problem. We have a chronic health care shortage and a system under pressure and we've been calling on the NDP government to come up with a health human resources strategy. This government has failed to deliver on this."
A good strategy would see action taken to train, recruit and retain more doctors, nurses and health care workers in BC, according to Bond.
Health care workers who didn't comply with the province's vaccine mandate were put on unpaid leave.
Taylor was asked if it was time to hire back unvaccinated workers to help deal with the labour shortage.
"I don't think that would make a difference because the number was so small," he said.
"Burn out and the overall lack of employees is the bigger problem."
