The Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt is once again operational, following another overnight shutdown to start out the weekend.

“Merritt and area residents are advised of temporary changes to emergency department hours at Nicola Valley Hospital,” said Interior Health in a release late Friday.

Emergency services were unavailable from 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 to 8 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024.

Patients were told to travel to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops — a more than one hour drive.

It’s the 19th closure local emergency room through 2024.

The mayor of Merritt, along with other local leaders, have been pressing for action to keep their local emergency rooms open.

This includes an effort by Lillooet Mayor Laurie Hopfl to create a ‘local mayors caucus’ to address the issue.

“She’s continuing to work on that. I hope to see something involving that group here pretty quick,” said Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz in an earlier interview with Radio NL.  “Then we can start talking to the provincial government on a real plan that will work for all of us, rather than a bunch of us jumping around. We need a real plan.”