Embattled Interior Health president Susan Brown, facing criticism for the shutdown of the pediatric unit at ѻý General Hospital, has been replaced ahead of her scheduled retirement at yearѻý end.
She has “concluded her tenure as president and chief executive officer”, Interior Health said in a statement Friday morning. The release did not say if Brown left the position on her own or was asked to depart.
Brown has been replaced on an interim basis by Sylvia Weir, the chief financial officer of Interior Health.
As well, a “neutral, third-party facilitator” will be appointed as soon as possible to make recommendations to the IH board of directors on how to improve pediatric services at KGH, Interior Health says.
But there is no current date for when the 10-bed pediatric unit, temporarily shut in late May, will re-open. Initially, IH said the target for re-opening was early July but now the date is given only as “as soon as possible”.
Children who are taken to KGH, and who are assessed in the emergency room as requiring hospitalization, are being sent to other hospitals around ѻý
The extraordinary closure, prompted by a shortage of pediatricians willing to work at the hospital, has stoked considerable public anger and led to calls from the Opposition BC Conservatives for Brown to be fired.
There are pediatricians in ѻý who choose not to work at the hospital. The release from Interior Health says the organization is reaching out to them to “rebuild trust, listen to concerns, and work closely together with the goal of strengthening partnerships.”
Gavin Dew, the BC Conservative's MLA for ѻý-Mission, said of Brownѻý departure: “This is an overdue step in the right direction.
“What surprises me is that it took so long to take this step,” he said. “But itѻý clear that finally, weeks into this conversation, the minister of health is listening to what we’ve been saying for a month.
“They are literally echoing our message, when you look at the language they’ve used in the release, when they talk about ‘rebuilding relationships’, ‘rebuilding trust’, and ‘listening to concerns’,” Dew said.
“I’m seeing the right language,” Dew said. “But what remains to be seen is what happens when the rubber hits the road and whether they’re able to complete this organizational turnaround.”
In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, Brown was paid a salary of $403,817 and had expenses of $36,763.