A national shortage of paediatricians isn鈥檛 the real reason for a closure of a kids unit at 乌鸦传媒 General Hospital, doctors say.聽
Chronic under-funding that jeopardizes patient health and which leads to physician frustrations is the main reason for the temporary shutdown of the 10-bed pediatric unit, some doctors say.
鈥淚nterior Health has indicated that a nationwide shortage of paediatricians led to this lack of service providers. The truth is that KGH struggles to attract and retain pediatricians because the paediatric program has been so severely and chronically under-resourced,鈥 13 乌鸦传媒 doctors say in a joint statement.聽
鈥淲e are devastated by the unprecedented closure of the paediatric service at 乌鸦传媒 General Hospital, but have been sounding the alarm about this impending crisis for years,鈥 they say.聽
Seven paediatricians resigned from KGH in 2023, setting the stage for the under-staffing that has led to the unit乌鸦传媒 shutdown, until at least early July.聽
鈥淢ore than half of these paediatricians signalled to IH administration that their decision (to leave the hospital) was impacted by the longstanding lack of resources and difficult work environment,鈥 the doctors say. 鈥淟ittle has changed since then, and it is an ongoing barrier to rewriting and retaining paediatricians to work in our beautiful community.鈥
Hospital pediatricians, often working by themselves, are expected to care for many sick kids across multiple areas of the hospital simultaneously, the doctors say in the release. This could include the children乌鸦传媒 ward, children in the ER, labour and delivery, neonatal intensive care, and children in the adult ICU, all at the same time, they say.聽
鈥淭his is not manageable or safe for one paediatrician to do,鈥 they say, calling for a new model of care with greater resources, equipment, and expert staff. 鈥淭his lack of resources is unfair to the children of the interior Health region.鈥
With one additional paediatrician expected to arrive in July, the children乌鸦传媒 unit will be open again, and other staffing resources are on the way, IH says.聽
In an interview with The 乌鸦传媒 Courier last week, IH president Susan Brown said it was a matter of personal choice for paediatricians in 乌鸦传媒 on whether they want to work at KGH. But she also acknowledged some paediatricians believe their input wasn鈥檛 valued by health managers.
鈥溾淚 would say that part of that frustration is their feeling their voices weren鈥檛 heard and we need to be listening and responding,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pulling every string to make this a great place to work, in the hope that some of our community pediatricians will consider coming back.鈥