Photo: Kathy Michaels Central Okanagan MLAs made a call to the health minister to visit KGH amid its pediatrics closure.
B.C.’s health minister says she will be headed to Kelowna to speak with doctors and other frontline health workers in the weeks ahead, though, for now, she’s supporting the local health authority as it addresses issues.
“I appreciate the concerns raised around Kelowna General Hospital and take them very seriously. Listening to frontline workers, including physicians, is essential to creating safe, respectful workplaces and improving care for patients,” Health Minister Josie Osborne said.
“Since becoming Health Minister, I’ve made it a focus to meet with frontline staff and will be in Kelowna in the coming weeks as I visit and meet with staff at hospitals across the region.”
On Monday, Central Okanagan MLAs Gavin Dew, Kristina Loewen, and Macklin McCall called on Osborne to come to Kelowna and speak with healthcare workers.
They have also planned a July 2 town hall, where they want people to discuss their concerns and offer up their thoughts on how to get through this situation.
Osborne indicated she too believes that collaboration is the key to getting through what some are calling a health care crisis.
“It’s crucial that we collaborate and focus on finding solutions, especially in challenging situations like this. Interior Health leadership is meeting directly with physicians at Kelowna General Hospital to discuss and work through these issues,” Osborne said in a statement.
“I’ve also offered support from the Ministry of Health to help all parties work together constructively and keep the focus where it belongs — ensuring respectful workplaces and high-quality patient care.”
Dew said the point of the town hall and any meeting with Osborne is not just to “beat up on the government.”
“We’re pointing to solutions that need to be brought forward, and the first part of that is rebuilding confidence in the system with the very people who work in it,” Dew said.
Dew said that the powers that be are out advertising to hire doctors in the United States and, while that’s great, there are 20 pediatricians in Kelowna who have declined to work in the hospital system.
“When we’ve talked to people in the health authority, they’ve told us they don’t even really seem to be interested in talking to these people,” he said.
“In fact, they never even did exit interviews with these people when they left the system. So that’s why there has to be a reset. There has to be a rebuild. There has to be a change of attitude that actually respects people that are working in the system, that listens to them when they flag issues and offer solutions, solving this problem, stabilizing Kelowna General Hospital, rebuilding confidence.”
That, he said, starts with the leadership at Interior Health, better communication, trust, and recognizing that the people who work in the healthcare system are the main part of the solution.
Kelowna General Hospital’s pediatric ward closed May 26 for a minimum of six weeks. A pediatrican shortage was the cause and hiring has been underway since.
It’s unclear whether services will be reinstated at the six week mark.
