Latest news with #IH
Global News
6 days ago
- Health
- Global News
Parole granted for former health official in B.C. and Alberta who sexually assaulted boy
The former chief medical health officer for British Columbia's Interior Health Authority has been granted full parole from a sentence for sexually assaulting a boy. Albert de Villiers served less than two years of a 5-1/2-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2023 of sexual interference of the boy in Grand Prairie, Alta. The Parole Board of Canada says in a decision issued in April that de Villiers repeatedly sexually touched the young male between 2018 and 2021, sharing pornographic videos to 'groom' the victim. The board's ruling says de Villiers was granted day parole in October last year, and has since begun rebuilding his relationship with his wife and sons, working with his wife's online business, the name of which is redacted from the decision. The board says de Villiers, a top public health official in northern Alberta before his move to B.C. in 2020, has a supportive network of family, friends and 'faith community,' which included continuing sessions with his rabbi. Story continues below advertisement The decision says de Villiers had no issues while behind bars, and assessments determined him a very low risk to reoffend. 1:27 Former IH top doctor convicted of sexual assault His parole conditions prohibit him from accessing pornographic materials, and from being in locations where people under 16 are likely to be. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The board ruled that de Villiers caused 'serious harm' to the victim. 'The impacts on the victim and your betrayal of trust and authority on him and his family cannot be overstated,' the decision says. 'With that said, you have no prior criminal history and have otherwise lived a pro-social life with positive family and a good reputation in the community.' The board's ruling says de Villiers had no criminal history before his 2021 arrest, but he faced a separate charge of sexual assault in February 2023 that was later stayed and he was placed under a peace bond. Story continues below advertisement Parole board decisions are not posted publicly at the time they are issued. The ruling was provided to The Canadian Press upon request.
Global News
28-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
Kelowna doctor sounds alarm over pediatrician shortage at hospital
Another emergency room doctor is decrying the severe shortage of pediatricians at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH). 'I do think this will have impacts on our pediatric patients and I hope no tragic outcomes occur,' said Dr. Hannah Duyvewaardt. The shortage has been causing occasional service disruptions for months but now it has caused the entire pediatric ward to shut down for at least six weeks. Story continues below advertisement The situation prompted Duyvewaardt to take to social media on Thursday to express her concerns. 'I think our community should be concerned about the current pediatric crisis that we are having,' she said in the post. In the nearly three-minute-long post, Duyvewaardt provided a glimpse into the dire situation. 'I just got off my shift in the emergency department,' she said. 'We have a sick kid in our trauma bay from an asthma exacerbation. That pediatrician is helping getting their airway ready, maybe for potential intubation, and then they get called to a stat C-section, and then their pager goes off again, and there's a seizing baby in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). 'Which child are they going to leave? Which child will not get their care and attention?' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Duyvewaardt said there are nearly 20 licensed pediatricians practicing in Kelowna. Last week, Interior Health (IH) confirmed, however, only six of them are working in the hospital. 'Many of them who stopped working in the hospital couple of years ago,' she told Global News. 'I think we need to ask why.' Duyvewaardt pointed the blame at what she called an overwhelming workload which, according to her, includes one pediatrician tasked with coverage in several departments including the NICU, pediatric psychiatrics, emergency room and other critical services such as high-risk deliveries. Story continues below advertisement 'That's five different places that our pediatricians are required to be at once, and there's only one on at a time, and so for years they have advocated, saying this is a unsafe work environment for patients. We need one doctor on for our neonatal unit and one for deliveries and the other one for the emergency department and pediatric care and their voices have been silenced,' Duyvewaardt said in the social media post. 'And so we're having a doctor's shortage because they're worried about putting their own moral and professional integrity at risk, as well as patients.' In an email to Global News, IH stated that it acknowledges the concerns raised by the KGH emergency department physicians and remains committed to working together on sustainable solutions. 'We are actively engaged with health care providers at KGH as we work together to meet the patient care needs during the current pediatric inpatient unit service disruption,' said Dr. Sam Azzam, IH executive medical director. Azzam added that physicians have choices on where to practice medicine and these reasons vary, including their personal interest in medicine, preferred work-life balance, and desired compensation level. 'Community pediatricians play a critical role in maintaining child health and reducing the burden on hospitals by managing care in the community,' Azzam said. Last week, Dr. Jeff Eppler, another ER physician, expressed his concerns over the pediatrician shortage. Story continues below advertisement He called the pediatric service disruption of this magnitude unprecedented, one he also said has the potential to create even longer waits in an already busy ER. 'If we are trying to care for pediatric admitted patients, then that's going to impair our ability to treat it will delay care to other patients that come in, because we're going to be tying up nursing resources. We'll be tying up beds, tying up physicians,' Eppler said last Friday. IH has said the pediatric ward closure will only affect pediatric patients who need to be admitted to hospital. According to IH, those patients will be assessed on a case-by-cases basis and transferred to other hospitals if necessary.
Global News
24-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
Kelowna ER doctors sound alarm over ‘unprecedented' closure of pediatric ward
Doctors who work in the emergency room (ER) at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) are in disbelief that the entire pediatric unit will be shutting down for at least six weeks. 'We never imagined a disruption of pediatric services of this magnitude,' said Eppler, a longtime KGH ER physician. 'It's something I never could have envisioned. I mean … it seems almost surreal.' Eppler told Global News Friday there is a general sense of concern among medical staff at KGH. 'I am speaking on behalf of not only our emergency department, but we all want the general public to know what is happening right now,' Eppler said. Interior Health (IH) confirmed this week that the 10-bed pediatric ward will shut down for a month and a half, possibly longer starting May 26 due to a significant pediatrician shortage at the hospital. Story continues below advertisement 2:11 Kelowna pediatric unit to close for 6 weeks According to IH, the decision to temporarily close the pediatric unit was necessary to ensure coverage is available for critical services such as high-risk deliveries and the neonatal intensive care unit. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Eppler said the prolonged pediatric disruption will have what he calls a profound impact. 'If we are trying to care for pediatric admitted patients, then that's going to impair our ability to treat, it will delay care to other patients that come in, because we're going to be tying up nursing resources. We'll be tying up beds, tying up physicians.' Eppler said. IH stated earlier in the week that pediatric patients who need to be admitted to hospital will be transferred to other hospitals across the region and possibly beyond. Eppler said that is easier said than done. Story continues below advertisement 'That often takes time and often those hospitals are full,' Eppler said. 'We actually had four admitted pediatric patients recently during a temporary service disruption in pediatrics and we were unable to transfer any of them to another hospital.' In an email to Global News on Friday, IH stated, 'We appreciate the concerns raised by the KGH emergency department physicians and will continue to support them in getting all pediatric patients the care they need, at KGH or an alternate location. The statement went on to say, 'For pediatric patients requiring a period of hospitalization, the referral of these clients will be coordinated by Kelowna General Hospital with Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Penticton Regional Hospital and BCEHS (B.C. Emergency Health Services) whenever possible.' 'There will be no change to the referral of critically ill/injured pediatric patients. As required, the KGH emergency team will continue to stabilize these patients for transfer to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver.' 2:15 Doctor shortage leads to scary ER visit for Kelowna parents Despite the concerns being raised by the ER physicians, the doctors are reassuring patients, both young and old, that emergency care will not be compromised during the disruption. Story continues below advertisement 'Emergency physicians, we're all trained in providing emergency care to everyone, including pediatrics,' Eppler said. 'So we have expertise in diagnosing and treating sick children but what we are not, what we should not be expected to do, is provide ongoing care to those patients.' The closure of the pediatric unit takes effect on Monday. It's not known when exactly it will reopen.
Global News
23-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
B.C. health minister calls pediatric ward closure at Kelowna hospital challenging
A ongoing pediatrician shortage in Kelowna, B.C., has prompted Interior Health (IH) to make a decision to temporarily shut down the entire pediatric ward at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH). 'Very scary,' said Kaitlyn Polmear, a Kelowna mother of two. The specialist shortage has left the hospital without coverage on numerous occasions in recent months but it is now resulting in the 10-bed unit closure for at least six weeks. 'We're hoping six weeks will be it but there is a possibility it will extend beyond the six weeks,' said Dr. Hussam Azzam, IH's executive medical director of community and maternity. 'That's very concerning,' said Helen Chong, another mother of two small children. 2:19 Limited pediatric service in Kelowna ER According to IH, it has funding for 12 hospital pediatricians but is only operating with half of that as it struggles to recruit the specialists. Story continues below advertisement 'We do appreciate that this is a concerning decision and that the public may be worried but we had no other option but to protect the other pediatrician physicians that we have at the moment,' Azzam said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy With the existing pediatricians stretched to the limit, Azzam said the decision was also necessary to preserve coverage for critical services including the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries. Azzam reminded parents and guardians to continue relying on the emergency room when needed. The ward closure means that a child needing to be admitted to hospital will have to be transferred to another hospital either within the IH region or beyond. 'I just want to make sure everybody is re-assured that your child will receive the care they need,' Azzam said. 'Decisions will be made on a case by case basis.' 5:54 Need for diversifying Canadian healthcare B.C. health minister Josie Osborne acknowledged the situation at KGH as challenging but said the province is taking a number of actions to resolve the problem in Kelowna and across B.C. Story continues below advertisement 'Opening a brand new medical school in Surrey, opening in September 2026 to its first intake of students, expanding the UBC medical school, adding residency seats, working to streamline the credentialing process for people coming from other provinces, from other countries,,' Osborne said. Osborne also added that IH is also doing its part to address the shortage. 'Interior Health is working hard to address this, putting in place incentives for locums and for physicians, looking at additional changes to current compensation models, for example, and doing everything they can to attract new pediatricians to the site,' Osborne said. Azzam said one additional pediatrician is expected to start working in July. The pediatric ward will close on May 26.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alkermes begins Phase II trial of drug candidate for idiopathic hypersomnia
Irish biopharmaceutical company Alkermes has begun a randomised Phase II trial to assess the efficacy and safety of ALKS 2680 in adults with idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). The double-blind, placebo-controlled Vibrance-3 trial is expected to enrol a total of around 96 IH patients across sites in Australia, Europe and the US. Subjects will be randomised and given either 10mg, 14mg or 18mg of the therapy, or a placebo, once a day for eight weeks. Alkermes said that based on the dose level, the trial's primary endpoint will evaluate if the subjects taking the therapy experience a reduction in sleepiness against those who are taking only a placebo. This will be determined as per the measure of changes in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score. Subjects who complete the trial will be eligible to continue in an open-label, long-term safety trial. Alkermes Research & Development executive vice-president and chief medical officer Craig Hopkinson said: "The initiation of Vibrance-3 represents an important step forward for the ALKS 2680 development programme as we seek to advance a potential new treatment option for people living with idiopathic hypersomnia. "The Vibrance-3 Phase II study builds on encouraging data from our phase Ib, proof-of-concept study of ALKS 2680 in patients with IH, and we look forward to further characterising its safety and efficacy profile in this patient population." ALKS 2680 is an oral, selective orexin 2 receptor (OX2R) agonist being developed as a once-a-day treatment for narcolepsy type I and II, as well as IH–chronic, neurological conditions marked by 'excessive' daytime sleepiness. The ongoing Phase II studies, Vibrance-1 and Vibrance-2, are assessing the therapy's efficacy and safety in adults with narcolepsy type I and II respectively. Last year, Alkermes announced positive topline data from the narcolepsy type 2 (NT2) and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) cohorts of a Phase Ib trial of ALKS 2680. "Alkermes begins Phase II trial of drug candidate for idiopathic hypersomnia" was originally created and published by Clinical Trials Arena, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
