The Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center will close its emergency department overnight beginning Dec. 1.
It’s a temporary measure to address a shortage of ER doctors, said Megan Crowley, spokeswoman for the VA Northwest Health Network in Vancouver, Washington. The VA hopes to hire more doctors and reopen the emergency department 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the spring, she said.
Starting in December, the emergency department in Spokane will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. The ER also won’t accept patients taken there by ambulance, according to a news release.
Veterans who need care when the department is closed should call 911 or seek care at another hospital, Crowley said. Depending on a veteran’s eligibility for VA care, the agency may pay some or all of the bill for care at a non-VA emergency room, Crowley said.
The Spokane VA’s emergency department handles about 17,000 patient visits a year, Crowley said.
She said the closure was planned before the arrest last month of one of the hospital’s ER doctors, Dr. Craig Morgenstern, on child rape charges.
