Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

CARIBOO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Interior Health hopes obstetrical services will be back to normal soon in Williams Lake

May 28, 2019 | 5:27 PM

KAMLOOPS — Another disruption to in-patient maternity services is coming to Cariboo Memorial Hospital. In a news release issued Monday, Interior Health advised all expectant mothers to relocate to Kamloops and plan to deliver their babies at Royal Inland Hospital.

This latest interruption of service comes after a two-month suspension that took place late-February to the end of April. This closure is scheduled to begin May 30th, with services resuming on June 3rd. Karen Bloemink is Interior Health’s Vice president of clinical operations for the authority’s northern region. She doesn’t expect the extra patients to put any strain on maternity services at Royal Inland Hospital.

“The maternity services at Royal Inland will be able to handle this small number of additional births, should they come to pass,” Bloemink said in a phone interview Tuesday. “At the moment, we’re fully staffed, and we have full confidence in the maternity services in Kamloops.”

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Bloemink says these interruptions are a result of a shortage of qualified personnel in Williams Lake. Since the initial service disruption, Interior Health has been working to address that shortage. Bloemink says more nurses are undergoing the specialized training needed for maternity care and should be ready to fill those roles by July.

“We’re recruiting individuals with those qualifications, and we’ve had success,” Bloemink said. “We’re also training nurses internally, and the training program… doesn’t finish until that July date. That’s what really driving the July timeframe… and driving our confidence in having full services at Cariboo Memorial.”