The emergency department at the Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt will be closed for 24 hours this Friday due to a lack of doctors.

Interior Health says the emergency department will be closed from 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 20 to 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21.

It’s the 19th closure of the emergency department this year and fifth this month after closures on Oct. 8, Oct 10, Oct. 13, and Oct. 17. There were also five closures of the emergency department in September – Sept. 7, Sept. 10, Sept. 25, Sept. 27, and Sept. 28.

This latest closure comes one day after the province announced it is providing $7.5 million to help stabilize physician emergency-room coverage in Merritt, Oliver, and Salmon Arm.

Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz told Radio NL that while he appreciates the funding, the biggest issue in keeping the local ER open isn’t doctors, its nurses.

“I’m hoping that we’re going to be able to maybe modify our contribution that they’re coming to us [with] so we can secure some sort of incentives for nurses,” Goetz told NL Newsday on Wednesday.

Speaking on NL Mornings, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the new money headed toward Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt will remain earmarked for physician recruitment.

“We’ve approved and funded what are called alternative payment plans, which is essentially not to pay doctors based on how busy they are – which is fee-for-service – but paying for people for their overall time dedicated to the hospital,” Dix said.

As has been the case in the past, people in need of emergency services are being told to head to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.

The emergency department in Merritt is normally open 24/7.