A group of obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) at Kamloops’s only hospital are citing “extreme physician burnout” and an “obligation to be in two places at once” as part of the reason they resigned from their posts earlier this month.
On Oct. 11, all seven obs-gyns at Royal Inland Hospital announced they were resigning their hospital privileges — meaning they’d no longer provide in-hospital care during labour, delivery and caesarian sections.
At the time, the doctors cited safety issues due to workload and difficulty recruiting more physicians as their reason for their mass departure, but now, the group is spelling out exactly what led to their drastic measures.
In a media statement issued Monday, the group says it has concerns around four main issues: simultaneous call and surgical shifts, the struggle to recruit more ob-gyns, disproportionate time doing obstetrical work that means they cannot do gynaecological work, and burnout — likely the result of the first three points, and more.
The doctors say they sometimes work up to 80 hours per week, and are often forced to cover two or more 24-hour call shifts per week — up to 48 hours of work with no sleep.
In the statement, the ob-gyns say they’ve raised their concerns with the Ministry of Health and Interior Health over the past five months.
Mark Masterson, Interior Health’s vice-president of medicine, said in an emailed statement that the health authority offered the group a 25 per cent increase in compensation — up to $700K annually — but their offer was rejected.
An Interior Health job posting for a locum ob-gyn in Kamloops shows the position is compensated $7,117 per 24 hours, plus after hours premiums.
Masterson also said Interior Health did not ask the ob-gyns to undertake simultaneous emergency call and surgical shifts.
“The group had autonomy to schedule themselves and chose that model of care. Interior Health was supportive of proposals that separated surgical assists from obstetrical and gynecology on-call coverage.”
Health Minister Josie Osborne said Interior Health is actively working to recruit more ob-gyns, adding that they’re in talks with “at least a dozen” physicians about potential employment.
She said she is encouraging the health authority and the physician group to “keep talking.”
“We want safe, supportive workplaces for every kind of physician or health-care worker at Royal Inland and at hospital settings across British Columbia.”
Advocacy group launches
A grassroots group, which formed in the wake of the resignations, is now calling for action from the health authority and provincial government to ensure obstetric and gynaecological care at Royal Inland Hospital is not at risk.
The group, Maternity Matters Kamloops, is made up of local advocates, birth workers, parents and more.
Spokesperson Alix Dolson said people needing pre-natal and maternity care are struggling to find adequate, local care providers.
A pregnant B.C. woman who lives outside Kamloops, B.C., says she’s left wondering what’s next for her care after all obstetrician-gynecologists at Royal Inland Hospital jointly announced they plan to resign.
However, Osborne stressed that people will be able to access proper care when they need it, despite these recent resignations.
“I want to assure pregnant people, families, the care is there for them at the hospital at their time of delivery or if they’re facing a high-risk delivery.
“Patient safety always comes first.”
Dolson acknowledged that the situation is symptomatic of the health-care system provincewide, one that’s been hanging by a thread as health authorities and provincial agencies push to recruit doctors, nurses and other care providers.
“We need to recruit and retain ob-gyns, but we also need to be focusing on the full spectrum of maternity care — and that includes GPs,” Dolson said.
“We need to be focusing on midwives and maternity nurses and all of these different pieces of the system that work together to create a collaborative care model, because we know that collaborative care models are what support families best.”
