Image credit: CFJC Today

By Amandalina Letterio

ROYAL INLAND HOSPITAL

Health Minister acknowledges challenges at Royal Inland Hospital, wants to talk to Kamloops council

Nov 18, 2021 | 4:17 PM

KAMLOOPS — B.C.’s Health Minister Adrian Dix is acknowledging there is a healthcare crisis at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH).

“There’s no hospital in B.C. — and I don’t believe any hospital in Canada — that has faced as much challenge as Royal Inland over the last three months,” Dix told CFJC Today.

RIH is currently battling four COVID-19 outbreaks at once. Dix says in addition to visitor restrictions and cohorting, elective surgeries are paused.

“We are only doing urgent surgeries at the moment and a variety of… urgent surgeries, so there are three operating rooms open for that. We are obviously changing some of the functions in the hospital to relieve some of the pressure for healthcare workers,” he said.

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Royal Inland Hospital has 260 base acute care beds and 20 contingency beds. On Wednesday (Nov. 17), the patient population was more than 285 people — more patients than beds.

City of Kamloops officials say they feel uninformed about the hospital’s problems.

“One of the issues has been the lack of communication. Very often, a spokesperson is unavailable,” said Mayor Ken Christian.

At Tuesday’s regular council meeting, councillors voiced it’s concerns about Interior Health’s lack of clarity on issues related to the hospital.

“Unfortunately, that causes reputational damage to Royal Inland Hospital. Royal Inland is a proud institution in this community and I think council is concerned about that,” Christian added.

Mayor Christian says he will be extending an invite to Susan Brown, CEO of Interior Health, to attend a council meeting. Minister Dix says he would like to join.

“In terms of Kamloops, let’s be clear — there has been more effort and more attention in Kamloops than just about anywhere else in Interior Health. Not because Kamloops is receiving special treatment, but because the challenges have been significant,” Minister Dix explained.

With strains on the hospital like staffing shortages and the COVID-19 outbreaks, Dix says the ministry is aware of the support needed at Royal Inland Hospital.

“More COVID-19 patients than any other hospital in the province. Higher level of capacity than any other hospital in the province,” he said.

“Yet, still delivering more healthcare than has ever been delivered out of that hospital before. And that doesn’t mean that everybody’s happy or there haven’t been problems or challenges; there are and I acknowledge those.”