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CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Kelowna General Hospital doctors warn of 'collapse' of primary maternity care coverage
Doctors in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) are warning that the maternity ward is on the verge of collapse amid a shortage of family physicians. A joint statement from all nine members of the department issued Thursday said that "without immediate action from health authorities and government decision-makers, the safety of patients and newborns is at serious risk." "Due to a critical shortage of family physicians willing or able to provide this care— worsened by a failure to recruit replacements—our hospital is facing a collapse of its primary maternity care coverage as early as June 1, 2025. "This means that many pregnant patients may arrive at the hospital in labour with no doctor available to provide safe, continuous care during delivery." The doctors said their concerns about staffing and support have gone largely unanswered and they're demanding immediate action from Interior Health. The doctor representing the group declined an interview request from CBC News. Dr. Hussam Azzam, executive medical director for Interior Health South, acknowledged the physicians' concerns, saying KGH leadership is in regular contact with with the ob-gyns to address a complex issue with "multiple pillars to it that we need to address." "We are open to listen and we're open to work with them collaboratively to meet their needs and to deliver the best quality care that they've trained to do," Azzam said. Dr. Charlene Lui, president of the professional association Doctors of B.C., said family doctors often handle low-risk patients with obstetricians focused on cases that are high risk and more complex. "When we have fewer low-risk maternity providers that are family physicians, then that puts additional pressure on our obstetricians to sometimes need to be in several places at the same time when an emergency arises," Lui said. The statement followed last week's announcement of an extended closure of the pediatric unit at KGH. The health authority said it temporarily closed the pediatric care unit at the hospital to address scheduling gaps due to limited physician availability. "We are very alarmed to hear that the issues at Kelowna General continue to escalate without solutions from the health authority," Lui said Friday. KGH is a regional referral centre with over 1,800 deliveries each year and a Tier 4 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) caring for babies born at 30 weeks gestation or later, according to the doctors' letter. Dr. Jeff Eppler, an emergency department physician at KGH, told CBC News on Friday that he was heading into a weekend shift amid staff shortages, including no pediatricians and a limited number of ob-gyns. "Our staff is burning out. All of these service disruptions just make the job so much harder for all of us in the emergency department," Eppler said. "And even though we are all starting to burn out, we are going to have to pick up extra shifts this summer to make up for all the shortcomings in the system." In a statement, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said parents can be assured that all of the hospital's critical care services for children remain open, including the emergency department and NICU. Gavin Dew, the B.C. Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission, described the situation at the hospital as a "crisis of government neglect." "We have multiple departments of the hospital who clearly feel as if they are not being heard by the folks who should be listening to them and are resorting to making public the crisis-level conditions at the hospital," Dew said. The hospital ob-gyns said they have warned administrators of the risks, and have tried to offer solutions. "We have submitted multiple letters, proposals, and formal communications urging action," reads the statement. "Our concerns have gone largely unanswered." They are calling on Interior Health and B.C.'s health ministry to create a contingency plan to ensure patients are cared for and to support the transfer of maternity patients if care can't be provided locally. Osborne acknowledged the hard work of pediatricians at KGH, saying they have been dealing with staffing shortages and are "understandably experiencing burnout." She went on to say the province's efforts to recruit health-care workers are starting to pay off. Two new pediatricians have accepted offers to work at KGH, she said, with the first set to arrive in July.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Pediatric unit at Kelowna hospital to close for at least 6 weeks amid doctor shortage
An emergency department physician is sounding the alarm about staffing shortages within Interior Health following the announcement of an extended closure of the pediatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH). In a statement, Interior Health says the service disruption to the KGH's 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit will start Monday and last at least six weeks as pediatricians will be moved to the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries. The health authority says it is making the temporary changes to pediatric care at the hospital to address scheduling gaps due to limited physician availability. Dr. Jeff Eppler, an emergency department physician at KGH, said parents shouldn't hesitate to bring their sick child to the emergency department to get the care they need. "I think the contingency will be if the sick child comes in ... if they need to be admitted then they are going to be staying in [the] emergency department," he said. Eppler said there had been some planning for disruptions in pediatric services, "but we were never prepared to become what is essentially a de facto pediatric ward." Dr. Hussam Azzam, Interior Health's executive medical director in community and maternity care, said that staff can make arrangements to have a young patient transferred to another hospital, hopefully within the Interior Health region. Eppler is critical of how the news was communicated to staff, saying they found out about the service interruption through a press release less than a week before the closure. Azzam said there have been shorter periods of interrupted coverage in KGH's pediatric department over the last few months due to "a chronic shortage of pediatricians" at the hospital who can look after inpatients. Eppler said he and other hospital staff knew there were going to be some disruptions to pediatric services that could last a day or even a few days, but they had no idea that a closure would last for more than a month. "I suspect this situation has been brewing for a lot longer and we should have been notified much sooner so we could do better planning," Eppler said. "This affects our department greatly because we're already often short nurses." Interior Health said the interruption in service only affects children who need to be admitted to the general pediatric unit. All critical care services for children — including the emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit — are open. Recruiting pediatricians challenging, says health minister B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said the decision to shutter the pediatric unit for at least six weeks was a difficult one, noting that recruiting staff amid a global shortage of health-care workers is a challenge. "Pediatricians generally has been a specialty that's been more difficult to recruit to and Kelowna is not alone in experiencing these kinds of shortages," Osborne said. Azzam said they are constantly working to improve recruitment efforts. "We are hoping that there is at least one pediatrician [who] will be joining us in in the summer, so that will hopefully alleviate the pressure," he said. Eppler said it's important to emphasize that he and his emergency department colleagues will continue to provide patients with the care they need.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
B.C. Interior hospital shuttering pediatric ward for 6 weeks due to ‘limited physician availability'
Kelowna General Hospital is seen in this file photo. (CTV) A major hospital in B.C.'s Interior is shutting down its general pediatrics unit for 'at least six weeks' starting on Monday. The 10-bed inpatient unit at Kelowna General Hospital will close May 26 'due to limited physician availability,' said Dr. Hussam Azzam, Interior Health's executive medical director of community and maternity, in a statement Wednesday night. The change is intended to be temporary and to 'help address gaps in scheduling,' Azzam said. 'For patient safety, IH will be proceeding with a service disruption to the 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit starting May 26 and continuing for at least six weeks,' the statement reads. 'We are reallocating current pediatricians to support the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries.' All critical care services for children will remain open during the closure, according to Azzam. That includes the emergency department and the neonatal intensive care unit. The service interruption only affects children who would – under normal circumstances – be admitted to the general pediatric unit. 'Individuals requiring care for a child should still visit Kelowna General Hospital, where they will be assessed by an emergency room physician,' Azzam said. 'We appreciate this temporary change is concerning and want to assure parents and patients that this difficult decision was made to support appropriate and safe care for all pediatric patients.' Azzam said Interior Health is working with local physicians and community partners to recruit additional pediatricians to Kelowna, with recruiting efforts happening through both 'national and international channels.' 'We have incentives in place for locum (visiting specialists) and for permanent positions at KGH and are looking at additional changes to current compensation models to make positions in Kelowna more attractive to interested pediatricians,' Azzam's statement reads. 'There is one new pediatrician starting this summer.'
