iN NUMBERS: British Columbia’s health-care worker shortage

Doctor shortages have been making headlines around the province, especially in Kelowna with the recent KGH pediatric ward closure and at Kamloops’ Royal Inland Hospital’s maternity ward which has been struggling. The numbers show that B.C. is hiring more doctors, but there’s still a long way to go.

Here are the numbers:

• 1,400: American health-care workers have applied to work in B.C. since May.
• 140: U.S. doctors, nurses and other health care professionals have taken jobs here.
• 3: Pediatricians joined the Kelowna General Hospital team on Aug. 15 and two more associate physicians started work this month.
• 1,196: Job listings on the Interior Health website.
• 222: Interior Health listings are for permanent full time positions.
• 53.22: Dollars an hour is the average travel nurse wage in B.C., according to Indeed.com.
• 42.59: Dollars an hour is the average nurse’s wage in B.C., according to Indeed.com.
• 16,000: Fewer people worked in health care and social assistance in B.C. in August compared to May.
• 1,000: New family doctors in B.C., roughly, since the province changed the payment model in 2023.