Kamloops OBGYN crisis no surprise to BC specialists

The resignation of seven Kamloops maternity specialists was no surprise for others across the province, in part because it’s not the only community where doctors say they’re strained by the workload.

UBC professor and women’s health specialist Dr. Chelsea Elwood said obstetrician-gynecologists have been warning the province for years about a looming shortage of specialists, while negotiations with health ministry officials died after the last election.

“We had multiple conversations with the government. We thought things were moving forward and we were told to pause, as one does with every election, and we were expecting to pick those conversations up afterward. That has not been the case,” Elwood said.

Those negotiations were separate from the seven Kamloops doctors who, after rejecting the province’s offer two months ago, gave Interior Health notice they’d be giving up their hospital privileges citing unsafe work conditions.

Interior Health ramped up recruitment efforts in response, while indicating it plans to bring in locum doctors to temporarily fill any vacancies. Elwood was one of 130 OBGYNs to sign a letter in which doctors said they won’t assist Interior Health’s with temporary measures.

“Did we know Kamloops was in trouble? Yeah, and so did everyone else. Do we know it’s one of many sites that are in trouble? Yes. That’s what prompted us as a section… to sign a letter saying we’re quite alarmed about the current situation,” Elwood said. “We’ve identified the situation for a number of years now, and this is reflective of what’s going on in the rest of the province.”

She said it’s one of a few places facing a specialist shortage, noting Prince George and Vernon as other places where OBGYNs are stretched thin.

“About 70 per cent of sites will be facing some form of human resource shortage in the next five years,” she said.

Before the 2024 election, Elwood said doctors across the province were in talks with the ministry to drastically shift how OBGYNs deliver care across the province, recognizing the specialty as a provincial service. Those negotiations fell flat after the election.

With just seven specialists in Kamloops, Elwood said working understaffed means they can often be pulled in multiple directions, with planned operations or appointments sometimes conflicting with emergency surgeries.

A larger centre should have two OBGYNs on-call for a 24-hour period, but smaller hospitals will have just one for 24 hours or longer, Elwood said. As Kamloops grows, its on-call staff hasn’t and seven doctors were left to rotate the schedule.

“That means we have to be available to drop everything and go. When we are scheduled for multiple things or required to do multiple jobs at the same time, it impacts workload and creates safety issues,” she said.

Elwood said there have been some improvements like an expansion in training for OBGYN specialists, but also suggested recruitment will be difficult when doctors are leaving due to “unsafe” conditions.

Amid the departure of the seven physicians, Interior Health CEO Sylvia Weir said patients will still get the care they need and the doctors won’t be leaving immediately. She said their resignation triggers a transition which will happen over time.

The health authority plans to have replacements in place by early next year.