Victoria hospital’s pediatric clinic to temporarily shut over staffing, workload woes

The main entrance of Victoria General Hospital is shown. Jan.23, 2019. (CTV Vancouver Island)

VICTORIA — An urgent care clinic for children at Victoria General Hospital will shut on Sept. 1 for an unspecified period, with the local health authority citing heavy workload, physician burnout, and problems with retention.

Island Health says consultations usually performed by the Urgent Pediatric Assessment Clinic will instead be handled by the emergency department.

It says the clinic stopped accepting new referrals on Aug. 15.

A statement Island Health attributed to the hospital’s pediatricians says they had to provide notice of the closure to divert staff “to providing more emergent care.”

They say they hope the clinic will be reopened and offer a more expanded service in the near future.

It’s the latest service closure in British Columbia hospitals, which have included the shutdown of Kelowna General Hospital’s dedicated pediatric unit in May.

Island Health said it “has been working collaboratively with the pediatrics group to address workload and compensation concerns.”

“The pediatrics group is facing increased demand for services as volume and complexity have grown over the past several years — creating workload challenges, physician burnout, and retention issues,” it said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.