A much awaited meeting last Friday between Kamloops City Council, B.C.’s health minister Adrian Dix, and representatives of Interior Health.
It came two weeks after Councillor Mike O’Reilly publicly said Interior Health wasn’t living up to the obligations it has to the people of Kamloops.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Ken Christian said council brought up a number of those concerns during that 90 minute meeting, most notably issues related to staff shortages at Royal Inland Hospital.
“We properly stated to [Minister Dix] that these are not city of Kamloops issues per se. They are likely more appropriate issues to fall to the board of the Interior Health Authority,” Christian said, in his mayor’s report. “That said, they are issues that are persistent in the community and issues that seem to keep coming and we felt it important as a council to raise those directly with the minister.”
“The Minster acknowledged the quantity and complexity of the needs of Royal Inland Hospital and he committed to being able to work specifically with them on the staffing piece. All in all, I think it was a good discussion but I suspect it was the start of a discussion.”
In addition to Dix, the 90 minute meeting also included Deputy Health Minister, Stephen Brown, Alex MacDonald, the province’s senior ministerial advisor, Diane Shendruk, the vice president of clinical operations for Interior Health North, and Dr. Shallen Letwin, the acting CEO for IH, was part of the meeting in CEO Susan Brown’s place, who was away due to a “brief absence”.
Christian says Minister Dix seemed to be aware of the challenges at RIH including the fact that it is operating above capacity.
Last week, Dix said there are 279 beds at Royal Inland, including 259 base beds and 20 surge beds. As of Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 23, he said there were 292 patients in the Kamloops hospital, making RIH the only hospital in the province that is over capacity when it comes to base beds.
“He also referenced the issue related to elective surgery cancellations. He commented on the four concurrent outbreaks of COVID-19 which were occurring at the time,” Christian said. “The minister was steadfast in terms of his discussion that the hospital was still able to meet the needs of residents of not only Kamloops but the region.”
Christian also said Tuesday that councillors brought forward issues related to doctor recruitment, Car 40, and complex care when it comes to people who are homeless.
He also said the Minister remains committed to meeting with hospital staff teams to hear their concerns directly. He also said Dix reiterated the province is working to address the needs around the new patient care tower and a recruitment campaign for RIH.
Further, the mayor also noted an upcoming meeting with Minister of Mental Health and Additions, Sheila Malcolmson, to discuss a sobering centre, an issue that has been several years in the making.
