Mission Memorial Hospital’s emergency department will be closed overnight from Sunday, August 3, to Monday, August 4, due to a shortage of doctors. The closure begins at 5 p.m. Sunday and continues until 8 a.m. the next day. Other hospital services will remain available during this time.
Fraser Health has described this as a “temporary service interruption.” Patients who arrive before 5 p.m. will still be able to see a doctor. These doctors will remain on duty until their shift ends at 11 p.m.
After 5 p.m., nurses trained in emergency care will be on-site. They can help walk-in patients with basic care needs, direct them to other facilities, or arrange transfers to nearby hospitals for urgent cases.
Fraser Health recommends that those with non-life-threatening conditions visit other urgent and primary care centres nearby. These include the Mission, Ridge Meadows, and Abbotsford centres, which are open until 8 p.m. on Sundays.
In a statement, Fraser Health confirmed that they are working with BC Emergency Health Services to make sure patients needing urgent care are directed to the right place. For life-threatening issues, the public is advised to call 911 right away.
While all other emergency departments in the Fraser Health region will remain open, officials warn that high patient numbers and ongoing staffing problems may cause longer wait times, especially for those with non-urgent needs.
This is the fourth time in 2025 that Mission’s emergency department has had to close, and the tenth closure since 2024.
In May, Fraser Health announced plans for an $18 million renovation project at the hospital. The project aims to expand the emergency department from 17 care spaces to 41. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and finish by spring 2027.
Currently, the emergency department is operating out of a temporary space in the former ambulatory care unit. Some believe this setup may contribute to the staffing challenges.
Dr. Paul Theron, the hospital’s site medical director, said that the staffing problems are not due to a single cause. He noted that the issues are widespread across the healthcare system in the province.
He also said that many hospitals in the Fraser Health region are facing staffing shortages, each with its own set of reasons. However, he did suggest that the temporary emergency department might play a role in the difficulty of keeping staff.
To address the issue, Fraser Health has been covering travel and accommodation costs for doctors willing to take shifts at the hospital. Depending on the shift, doctors can also receive bonuses ranging from $3,060 to $4,125.
Fraser Health says it is focused on both short- and long-term recruitment. Efforts include local, national, and international searches to bring in more emergency doctors.
According to Fraser Health’s own data, Mission Memorial Hospital has been doing well in some areas. It ranked first in the region for the percentage of patients admitted from the emergency department to hospital beds within 10 hours. However, the 35 percent rate still falls far short of the 65 percent target.
The hospital also saw more visits for non-urgent conditions than expected. It logged 163.4 non-urgent emergency visits, well above the target of 100.
As the region waits for the planned upgrades, hospital leaders are trying to manage staffing gaps while ensuring patient care is not affected. For now, residents of Mission and surrounding areas will need to rely on nearby facilities or emergency services during the overnight closure.
