For the 19th time this year, the emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., will undergo a temporary closure.

Interior Health announced the closure on Friday afternoon, just before 4 p.m., three hours before the 12-hour closure was slated to start.

The closure runs Friday night to Saturday morning, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and is due to limited physician and nursing availability.

The emergency department is normally open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Interior Health patients needing emergency care can access that at Penticton Regional Hospital during this time.

“People in the community who need life-threatening emergency care (i.e., chest pains, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding) should always call 911 for transport to the nearest available and appropriate facility,” said IH.

All other inpatient services will continue as normal at South Okanagan General Hospital.

The temporary emergency department closure is just one of many throughout the Interior Health region.

Since Jan. 1, there have been 52 temporary closures — including 18 and counting so far in July — which Interior Health calls temporary service interruptions.