Image Credit: Chad Harris / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

MEDICAL STRAIN

‘Forced to ration care’; Outgoing Kamloops OB-GYNs lay out reasons for departure and rejected solutions

Oct 20, 2025 | 5:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Fallout is growing from last week’s news of seven OB-GYN’s resigning from in-hospital privileges under Interior Health at Royal Inland in Kamloops. The physicians issued a statement Monday (Oct. 20), saying the medical resource strain has forced them to ‘ration care’ and the long wait time for basic women’s health care has resulted in later presentations of cancers and other conditions.

The seven obstetrician-gynecologists at Royal Inland Hospital say handing in their intent to resign was done after years of asking for help and their proposals to fix the issues being rejected.

Inability to recruit was cited both in the original letter and in today’s media release, which included a footnote from the group explaining that ordinarily, there are only five-to-nine new residents graduating in obstetrics and gynecology every year in this province, and those graduates typically don’t choose Royal Inland.

The three-page letter also delves into specifics around the physician burnout they’d been experiencing.

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The group describes how their department frequently has to work 80-hour weeks, which includes working 48 hours straight with back-to-back 24-hour on-call shifts. With the on-call shift requirements, the OB-GYNs say they often have to be in two places at once to tend to obstetrical emergencies and assist as secondary surgeons in other procedures, which “forces us to make impossible choices about which moms and babies we can tend to and which of our patients will have to wait.”

The letter also specifically outlines the solutions they had approached the health authority and the ministry with which weren’t accepted. It reads as follows:

“Recently, we made proposals to the Ministry of Health and the Interior Health Authority so that the on-call physician can stop trying to be in multiple places at once and instead would serve only the emergency patients in a 24-hour period. The Ministry of Health countered our proposal to allow the on-call physician to do one thing only (emergency obstetrics) with a proposal to have that physician perform three different functions at once (emergency obstetrics, unscheduled gynecology and scheduled obstetrics). This is not safe for our patients.”

The physician’s letter also cites spending a disproportionate amount of time on OB shifts compared to their gynecology practice, which results in long wait times for basic women’s health care — even saying they often see late presentations of cancers or other conditions that would not occur if patients access was timely.

Their statement wraps up by reiterating leaving was not what the physicians wanted to do, but was the result of the unaddressed burnout.

“It is for this reason that we saw no other way but for us to advise the Interior Health Authority of our intention to resign at the same time with staggered effective dates so we can safely protect our patients during the transition.”

The health authority accepting the resignation of all seven of the physicians and pivoting to replacement plans also caught the attention — and criticism — of Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer.

“They’re (Interior Health) able to offer $7,000 a day to a locum — a mercenary — yet they’re not able to offer a fair wage to our doctors? Our doctors are getting paid approximately half of what they would get paid than if they were in Burnaby or Vancouver or Port Coquitlam. That is totally unacceptable — especially when they’re on call 24/7. That’s not what we need in this region,” he told CFJC Today in a Zoom interview over the weekend.

In the meantime, a group of mostly women, and allies, have decided to vocalize their frustration in a rally this weekend.

“We’re moving back in time. This is certainly a gender equity issue,” says Katie Neustaeter, one of those involved in the newly formed ‘Maternity Matters Kamloops’ group. Neustaeter is a current city councillor and says her involvement is out of an interest in maintaining the health of residents, and as a mother of three children herself.

Come Saturday (Oct. 25), the street in front of Royal Inland Hospital will be lined with people calling for a solution to the mass resignation of OB-GYNs.

“No parent should be wondering if the services they require to safely deliver in Kamloops at a tertiary hospital that’s responsible for more than 225,000 people will have the appropriate supports in place to keep them and their families safe,” says Neustaeter.

Maternity Matters Kamloops is made up of parents, business owners, people who work for social agencies or work in health care.

“All different ends of the spectrum, and then many anonymous members as well who are afraid of reprisal from Interior Health if they speak out about the realities of their working situation,” she explains. “We expect more, and we expect more immediately both from Interior Health and from our province,” adds Neustaeter.

Saturday’s rally is set for 1:00 p.m. across the street from the hospital. Maternity Matters says they have invited BC Health Minister Josie Osbourne and Interior Health representatives to attend, and want to see a noticeable show of public support.

“Maternal care is not a women’s health issue. It is an issue of humanity and all people should be invested in this, and they should be furious that once again the Interior has gotten the short end of the stick, and this time, it is dangerous,” reiterates Neustaeter.

CFJC has made another request to the Ministry of Health for an interview with Minister Osbourne and will update this story if and when the Minister becomes available.