Residents in the Sainte-Anne-de-Kent area will be without overnight emergency room access for the next several days.

The ER at the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital will be closed Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.

The Vitalité Health Network issued a news release late Thursday afternoon announcing the closures, saying they are due to a “critical lack of nursing staff.”

During the closures, Vitalité said anyone who needs emergency medical care must go to another hospital.

The closest facilities are the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, The Moncton Hospital and the Miramichi Regional Hospital.

People with non-critical health conditions are asked to make an appointment with their family doctor or nurse practitioner, consult their community pharmacist, go to a walk-in clinic, cell Tele-Care 811, or go online to eVisitNB.