File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)
Royal Inland Hospital

Scheduled surgeries resume at Royal Inland Hospital after two-month pause

Oct 5, 2021 | 3:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — After a two-month delay, non-urgent, scheduled surgeries are resuming at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops this week.

Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the resumption during a weekly COVID-19 news conference Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 5).

Surgeries were put on hold at RIH in early August, with surgeons pointing to a staffing crisis caused by burnout and an influx of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients taking up hospital resources.

Surgeons who spoke to CFJC Today told us the hospital was over capacity, even with the wildfire season and COVID-19 pandemic not factored in.

The staffing pressure may have played a part in a woman’s death outside of the RIH emergency department on Sept. 8. The woman had waited for a lengthy period of time without being seen by a doctor.

Dix called a news conference the following day, pledging to review the situation.

Tuesday, it wasn’t clear what had changed at the hospital to make the resumption of surgeries possible, but Dix told reporters the resumption was a priority.

“Last week, I reiterated our commitment to every patient who has had their surgeries delayed that they will soon receive a phonecall to reschedule their surgeries,” Dix said. “Every one of these surgeries is important and we all need to do our part.”