Williams Lake city council continues to push for answers from Interior Health (IH) about why a sign was placed at Cariboo Memorial Hospital stating the emergency room was closed on Oct. 2.
During the regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24, council passed a motion authorizing a letter be sent to Interior Health to discuss concerns about the closure and request a meeting to discuss the levels of health services provided for residents of the city and wider region.
The motion noted the Cariboo Regional District, First Nations leaders and MLA Lorne Doerkson would also attend the meeting with IH.
Councillor Scott Nelson put forth another motion calling on IH chief executive officer Susan Brown to publicly release information from IH’s “own internal investigation they announced they were doing as to how Williams Lake emergency department got shut down.”
He asked that IH remove any names and provide key recommendations and public transparency, engagement and consultation.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Diane Shendruk, vice-president of clinical operations for IH, said Wednesday evening the initial review has been completed of the circumstances of the events that occurred on the evening of Oct. 2 at CMH.
“Under the employment and privacy laws we cannot share specific details of employees that were on shift that night or the people who came to the emergency department for care as it is our duty to protect the confidentiality of patient information at all times.”
She said she could share the review found there were some challenges with staffing the emergency department that evening, but the staffing was stabilized later.
“There was no need to activate our service disruption process,” she said. “The review found the sign placed on the door did not accurately represent the status of the emergency department and information shared to people who were attending the department that evening and it did not meet Interior Health standards of care.”
While the closure was not approved, Shendruk confirmed a number of individuals were transferred to 100 Mile House by BC Emergency Health Services, RCMP and family members.
IH’s patient care quality office has that information to address the concerns of people who were impacted, she added.
Moving forward, IH is working with all staff to develop awareness and the process if contingency service disruption should occur at CMH and reviewing the public notification process for service disruptions and how to communicate the availability of services.
When asked if the person who put up the sign was overwhelmed or stressed, Shendruk said it is a small department and she wanted to be very careful about commenting about the people who were there that night.
“I do know it was a busy department that night and there were some staffing challenges and we were able to stabilize, but I can imagine that. We certainly are reviewing it and working with the staff to think about what other resources potentially are available and how we can work as a broader team.”
Asked if anyone would lose their job over the incident, she replied IH wants to support its staff and employees “definitely.”
Staffing recruitment to fill vacancies across IH continues and at Cariboo Memorial Hospital they have been working to prevent any service disruptions, she said.
“We do recognize the impact and that this was an unfortunate incident for the community and our partners. We are committed in ensuring that proper notification goes out in the event it is needed.”
During the council meeting Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said normally the communication from IH has been excellent about any emergency room closures.
“With our hospital, I think this community has the right to know what happened and what went wrong,” Rathor said.
Coun. Joan Flaspohler agreed saying it is important the information comes out to the community in a proper manner to re-instill confidence.
Coun. Sheila Boehm, who is a chiropractor, said it has been frustrating for the community.
Some of her patients have had to go to other communities to get tests and emergency surgery in Kamloops.
“We have to do something. We have to at least get mad about what’s happening,” she said.
Shendruk said IH received a letter from the city of Williams Lake and has written a response to the city, which also went to the chair of Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District.
“We have responded to the city both verbally while we were doing the review as I and other leaders spoke to the mayor and responded to phone calls and text messages.
READ MORE: Interior Health reviewing why ER closure sign posted at Williams Lake hospital
Don’t miss out on reading the latest local, provincial and national news offered at the Williams Lake Tribune. Sign up for our free newsletter here.
