Physicians and parents are concerned about a "paediatrics care crisis" in Kelowna that will impact the care available to children for at least six weeks this summer, as all paediatricians will have stepped away from working at the Kelowna General Hospital.
"We have some amazing paediatricians living here, and I think that there is a reason that they don't work at the Kelowna General Hospital," said Dr. Hannah Duyvewaardt, a parent and Emergency Room doctor at the Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).
About a week ago, KGH staff were notified that there would be at least a six-week gap in paediatric care due to what Interior Health has deemed a "staffing shortage."
Dr. Duyvewaardt is now pushing back against Interior Health's explanation for the six-week gap, calling it instead a "paediatric care crisis" that is not simply a recruitment issue.
"We're having a doctor shortage because [paediatricians] are worried about putting their moral and professional integrity at risk, as well as patient safety."
One of the factors that may have influenced the decision of dozens of Kelowna-based paediatricians to not to work at KGH is because they feel it is an unsafe and unfair work environment, said Dr. Duyvewaardt. Instead, the paediatricians have chosen to work in community clinics or other hospitals, and Interior Health and KGH have been unable to fill the vacant positions.
Capital News has reached out to Interior Health for a comment on the ongoing situation, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. This article will be updated with a response as it becomes available.
Before delving into the intricacies of the situation, Dr. Duyvewaardt would first like to assure parents that the quality of emergency care provided to children at KGH will not be impacted, as emergency room physicians and nurses are trained to care for children. She said people should not hesitate to bring a sick child to Kelowna's hospital if they need urgent treatment.
Instead, the gap in care due to the absence of paediatricianswill impact very sick children who need to be admitted to the hospital or require paediatric consultations in the emergency department.
"If a child is very sick and needs to be admitted to the hospital, their care will be impacted because they're not going to be staying in Kelowna," said Dr. Duyvewaardt. "That means the child will be transported and the family will have to travel."
For a period of six weeks this summer, if a child who has presented to Kelowna's emergency department requires continued treatment or observation as an inpatient at the hospital, they will have to be transferred to another centre that has paediatricianson staff and a bed available.
Every time a patient is admitted to a hospital for continued care, there must be a physical bed available and a physician willing to assume responsibility for their care. If there are no paediatricians to care for the patients in Kelowna's paediatric, neonatal and psychiatric wards, no children or babies can be admitted to the hospital.
In addition to caring for all children that are admitted to the hospital from the emergency department for illnesses and injuries, KGH paediatricians– of which there is typically only one in the hospital at a time – are also required to provide consultation and specialized aid in the emergency department, provide psychiatric care, attend and aid in complicated deliveries and manage the neonatal unit.
"They get stretched too thin when they have multiple sick kids and babies who need their attention at the same time," added Dr. Duyvewaardt.
Historically, KGH has had only one on-call paediatrician working in the hospital at a time. According to Dr. Duyvewaardt, over the last few years, staff have been vocal about the issues that arise when a sole paediatrician is responsible for all areas of the hospital. She said paediatricians in Kelowna have been asking to have more staff on at a time, but the changes have not been made.
"For years, they have advocated and said this is an unsafe work environment for patients," said Dr. Duyvewaardt. "Their voices have been silenced."
Dr. Duyvewaardt said she has watched first-hand as her colleagues are forced to decide which pager call for a sick child they will respond to first.
"I think the public should know that we have some amazing paediatricians who really care about kids. They give their all at their jobs every day. They want to treat children to the highest level and standard of care. If there is a way to do that at Kelowna General Hospital, I think that we wouldn't have a crisis anymore."
She said that the KGH emergency department staff is concerned about the paediatric care crisis, but is supportive of the paediatricians who have chosen to step away from the hospital.
"We want our kids and our pediatric patient populations to be safe and valued, and we want the professionals to be safe and valued too. I think it is a two-way street."
