The Tumbler Ridge Health Centre’s Emergency Department went on diversion late Friday afternoon.
Northern Health advised residents of the service interruption on social media just before it took effect.
Officials said the ER shut down at 4 pm for the last hour of regular services and remained closed until 7 pm, cancelling the scheduled on-call coverage.
Northern Health said the interruption was due to staffing challenges.
South Peace MLA Larry Neufeld told CJDC-TV News that Tumbler Ridge has lost two of its 3.5 full-time equivalent doctors in the past 30 days.