B.C. Interior hospital shuttering pediatric ward for 6 weeks due to ‘limited physician availability’

Kelowna General Hospital is being forced to shut down its general pediatrics unit.

A major hospital in B.C.’s Interior is shutting down its general pediatrics unit for “at least six weeks” starting on Monday.

The 10-bed inpatient unit at Kelowna General Hospital will close May 26 “due to limited physician availability,” said Dr. Hussam Azzam, Interior Health’s executive medical director of community and maternity, in a statement Wednesday night.

The change is intended to be temporary and to “help address gaps in scheduling,” Azzam said.

“For patient safety, IH will be proceeding with a service disruption to the 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit starting May 26 and continuing for at least six weeks,” the statement reads.

“We are reallocating current pediatricians to support the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries.”

All critical care services for children will remain open during the closure, according to Azzam. That includes the emergency department and the neonatal intensive care unit.

The service interruption only affects children who would – under normal circumstances – be admitted to the general pediatric unit.

“Individuals requiring care for a child should still visit Kelowna General Hospital, where they will be assessed by an emergency room physician,” Azzam said. “We appreciate this temporary change is concerning and want to assure parents and patients that this difficult decision was made to support appropriate and safe care for all pediatric patients.”

Azzam said Interior Health is working with local physicians and community partners to recruit additional pediatricians to Kelowna, with recruiting efforts happening through both “national and international channels.”

“We have incentives in place for locum (visiting specialists) and for permanent positions at KGH and are looking at additional changes to current compensation models to make positions in Kelowna more attractive to interested pediatricians,” Azzam’s statement reads.

“There is one new pediatrician starting this summer.”