'Urgent' efforts made to shore up RIH staffing for long weekend, hospital boss says

Photo: Castanet Staff

Steps have been taken at Royal Inland Hospital to shore up staffing for the Victoria Day long weekend, but staff are also preparing to transfer some patients to other facilities if necessary.

RIH executive director Tracey Rannie said efforts are being made on an “urgent” basis to get additional staff into the hospital.

“As we know, May long weekend is a busy weekend — and we do have some staffing shortages,” Rannie told Castanet Kamloops.

“We’ve done a call out for staff across Interior Health to come assist Royal Inland.”

Rannie said additional patient transfer staff have also been scheduled for the weekend.

“We’ve done everything possible to fill all our shifts and we do look at bringing in other support, for example porters, to help support the teams here,” she said.

Staffing levels at RIH have been low over a number of recent weekends, resulting in some ward closures and patient transfers to facilities in the Okanagan.

Rannie said recruitment efforts are still in full swing, aiming to fill job vacancies at RIH and other Kamloops-area facilities.

“Interior Health is committed to taking every possible step to address the current staffing pressures,” she said.

“We have great staff, a great team. Everyone is working hard and we have folks very committed to fight.”

As of Friday afternoon, an IH spokesperson said more than 20 out-of-town staffers have agreed to work at RIH over the long weekend.