After nearly two months of closure, the pediatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital will begin to re-open on July 13.
During the period of the closure, all children requiring continued care, surgeries or monitoring had to be transferred to another hospital in the Okanagan, or in Vancouver. Since the closure was announced on May 26, 29 children have been transferred to another hospital for care.
Interior Health says that while the opening will prevent some patient transfers, some children will still have to be taken to alternate sites for continued care. Due to the closure, 22 pediatric patients were transferred within Interior Health and an additional seven patients were transferred to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Now, services that had previously been cancelled due to a lack of staff will return. Elective pediatric surgeries, diagnostic procedures that require sedation for children and admission of patients to the pediatric unit during daytime hours are some of the services that will be resumed.
“We are deeply grateful to the care teams who helped maintain pediatric care during this period of reduced pediatric services at KGH,” said Mark Masterson, Interior Health’s vice president of medicine.
Individuals requiring emergency care for a child should continue to attend Kelowna General Hospital's emergency department, where they will be assessed by an emergency room physician.
“Resuming services at Kelowna General Hospital continues to be everyone’s goal and our ability to start that process is indicative of the dedication, coordination, and teamwork happening at the site to support young patients,” said Masterson.
KGH physicians and nurses have spoken out about the closure and related strains in other areas of the hospital. The staff have pointed to systemic issues regarding unsafe patient-to-physician staffing ratios and limited resources as some of the reasons that contributed to the resignation of numerous Kelowna's pediatricians.
IH, however, has maintained that recruitment, a nationwide shortage of pediatricians, and a rapidly growing population are the primary issues that prompted the pediatric unit closure.
Interior Health says it has taken "significant actions to support the safe and sustainable return of pediatric care at KGH. These efforts continue to focus on short-term and long-term solutions all supported by the collaborative efforts of Interior Health, KGH staff and physicians, Doctors of BC, and the Ministry of Health."
