The calls to solve the doctor shortage crisis at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) are growing and getting louder by the day.
“There is hurt and there’s anger that it took so long and it took a crisis of this level,” said Dr. Alysha MacKenzie-Feder, a Kelowna, B.C., pediatrician who resigned from the hospital in 2024.
A group of more than a dozen pediatricians issued a public statement Monday, stating, “We are reaching out publicly to correct misinformation that has been circulating about the crisis.”
According to the group, there are only four pediatricians and one newborn specialist working at KGH, adding at baseline there should be 12.
The pediatricians have been unsuccessfully pleading with IH for their concerns to be addressed for years, saying they ‘foresaw’ the pediatric ward shutdown and tried to prevent it.
“These are not new problems and that we’ve been raising our voices for many years about the systemic issues here at KGH and how they’ve been impacting staff and safety,” MacKenzie we wanted to make sure that that was heard and understood that this crisis really was predictable.”
According to the group, seven pediatricians left the hospital in 2023 with many of them still working in the clinical setting in Kelowna.
The pediatricians accuse Interior Health (IH) of misleading the public by blaming the crisis on a nationwide shortage of physicians.
They say the crisis is the result of leadership mismanagement that has led to a severely and chronically under-resourced pediatric program.
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“What we need is a program with adequate pediatric services that physicians want to come to and that will stay in, and that requires the right amount of support and the right working environment and culture,” MacKenzie-Feder told Global News.
“Things like leadership that provides transparency and communication and that listens to the people on the ground, that hears the changes that they require.”
A group of nearly a dozen obstetricians has also sent a letter to media amplifying the concerns.
The letter states , “Our community is facing a deepening crisis in obstetrical care, the direct result of more than 15 years of neglect by the Interior Health Authority.”
The letter goes on to say, “Despite a rapidly growing population, IHA has consistently failed to prioritize, support, or invest in maternity, obstetrical, and neonatal services.”
The group points to the Central Okanagan Maternity Clinic (COMC) as an example.
IH opened the clinic at KGH in December 2023 to address inadequate maternity care services, but the doctors say it’s no longer accepting patients due to a shortage of obstetricians.
The clinic was being operated by doctors who already have their own practices and other hospital responsibilities with the idea that the health authority would recruit more physicians to staff it.
The letter states, however, “IHA failed to put in the necessary effort to recruit new staff.”
It goes on to say, “The consequences are serious and growing: our community’s access to safe, comprehensive maternity and neonatal care is now in jeopardy.”
Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission Gavin Dew said Tuesday a health care reset is needed, one he believes has to start with rebuilding the public’s trust.
“What we’re seeing right now is a critical communications plan, not an actual response,” Dew said. “It appears as though the Minister of Health, Interior Health are all trying to save face and pretend that they’ve been on top of the situation when they’ve been asleep at the switch. We need to start with some honesty.”
In an email to Global News Tuesday, IH stated, “We acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and are committed to acting with transparency, urgency, and accountability.”
The statement went on to say , “Interior Health takes the concerns expressed by pediatricians and maternity care providers seriously. We are meeting regularly with KGH physicians through daily calls and weekly meetings to listen, provide transparent updates, and work collaboratively on both immediate and long-term solutions.”
IH added that it has successfully recruited three new pediatricians with one starting this summer.
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