The new boss at Interior Health says recruiting staff is the biggest barrier for reducing surgery wait times.
Susan Brown says the health authority is in need of more anesthesiologists.
She says in Kamloops, there have been significant investments lately into operating rooms.
“But we still really need to focus on that recruitment of anesthesiologists to really bring that program to fruition,” Brown added. “They do need additional anesthesiologists to fully expand what they’re capable of doing.”
Recent data provided by Interior Health shows in the first seven months of this year, Royal Inland Hospital postponed 241 surgeries within two days of the scheduled surgery date.
Across the Health Authority, nearly 1,400 surgeries were postponed within two days of their scheduled date.
In Kamloops however, that number is down slightly this year.