I drove up the winding road to Sun Peaks on a cool July morning, watching as mist clung to the mountainsides and the resort village emerged like an alpine postcard. The summer wildflowers were in full bloom, a stark contrast to the mood I encountered inside the Sun Peaks Health Centre, where Dr. Shane Barclay was reviewing patient files.
“We’ve been serving this community for over a decade,” Dr. Barclay said, looking up from his desk. “It breaks my heart to think about October.”
After providing crucial medical services to residents and visitors since 2002, the Sun Peaks Health Centre will cease operations in October 2025. The closure announcement has sent ripples of concern through this mountain community, where the nearest alternative medical facilities are in Kamloops, a 45-minute drive away.
The news came as a surprise to many locals, including Janet Wilson, who moved to Sun Peaks five years ago after retiring. “When we chose to live here full-time, knowing there was medical care nearby gave us peace of mind,” she told me as we sat in the village square. “Now we’re wondering if we can stay.”
According to documents from Interior Health, the decision stems from ongoing funding challenges and changing regional healthcare priorities. The centre has operated on a hybrid model, relying on a combination of provincial funding, municipal support, and private donations to maintain services in this remote location.
Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine expressed frustration at what he sees as a failure to recognize the unique needs of resort communities. “Our population fluctuates dramatically with the seasons. During winter, we can have up to 7,000 people here daily. That creates different healthcare demands than a typical small town.”
Statistics from Tourism Sun Peaks indicate visitor numbers have increased by 28% since 2019, putting additional pressure on local infrastructure and services. The health centre handled approximately 4,800 patient visits last year, with a significant portion being tourists experiencing everything from altitude sickness to skiing injuries.
When I visited the clinic, I met Ellie Koerner, a seasonal worker who credits the health centre with properly diagnosing her pneumonia last winter. “If I’d had to drive to Kamloops in that snowstorm, I don’t know what would have happened,” she said. “This place saved me from a much worse outcome.”
The Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality has been exploring alternative solutions, including a potential partnership with private healthcare providers or establishing a telehealth hub. However, community advocates worry these options won’t adequately replace the hands-on care currently available.
Dr. Kathryn Docherty, a physician who has worked at the centre during peak seasons, pointed out that telehealth has limitations in a mountain setting. “We regularly treat fractures, dislocations, and concussions that require immediate in-person assessment. The cellular and internet service here can be spotty during storms, precisely when accidents tend to happen.”
The timing of the closure announcement has raised eyebrows among some residents, coming just as the community is preparing for major housing expansions. Sun Peaks Development Corporation recently broke ground on a project that will add 240 new residential units over the next three years.
Penny Hamlin, chair of the Sun Peaks Health Association, has been working tirelessly to find solutions. “We’ve launched a community fundraising drive and are appealing to the province to reconsider,” she explained while showing me around the facility. “This isn’t just about convenience – for elderly residents and families with young children, it’s about safety.”
The centre’s impending closure highlights broader challenges facing rural healthcare in British Columbia. According to the Rural Coordination Centre of BC, approximately 15% of rural health facilities in the province have experienced service reductions in the past five years, creating what health policy experts call “care deserts” in remote communities.
Dr. Stefan Grzybowski from the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Rural Health Research notes that this pattern has implications beyond individual communities. “When rural residents lose local healthcare access, we often see cascading effects – delayed diagnoses, increased emergency transportation costs, and eventually, population decline as people move closer to services.”
For Sun Peaks, which has worked to transform from a winter-only destination to a year-round community, the health centre closure represents a significant setback. Local business owners worry about potential impacts on tourism and property values.
Helen Schumann, who operates a bed and breakfast near the village centre, told me she already fields questions from potential guests about medical services. “People want to know they’re safe here, especially older travelers or those with children. What do I tell them now?”
As I left Sun Peaks, driving back down through forests of lodgepole pine, I reflected on the familiar push-pull between urban and rural priorities that shapes so much of Canadian healthcare policy. Communities like this one are fighting not just for services, but for their future viability.
In the mountain air, with the peak-season visitors enjoying their summer adventures, it was easy to miss the undercurrent of uncertainty. But for the 900 permanent residents who call Sun Peaks home year-round, October looms like an approaching storm – one that may fundamentally change their relationship with the place they’ve chosen to live.
As Mayor Raine told me before I departed, “Communities aren’t just places on a map. They’re living systems that need certain essentials to thrive. Healthcare is one of those essentials. Without it, we’re just a beautiful place to visit, not a place to build a life.”
