Leaked memo shows dire staffing situation at KGH's oncology department

Photo: BC Cancer

Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre at Kelowna General Hospital

The oncology department at Kelowna General Hospital is running at 55 per cent of it's intended staffing until at least the fall, causing “record” wait times for patients, according to a leaked internal memo from this week.

A memo sent to Castanet News dated June 6 paints a dire picture of the situation at KGH, amidst ongoing staffing concerns across the Interior's healthcare system.

The leaked memo is addressed to KGH's Chief of Staff Dr. Jeremy Harris and other KGH physicians. It's says it's written by the "Department Leader for Medical Oncology" at KGH, but it's not clear who that is.

“The [Medical Oncology] group faces a severe staffing shortage due to long-term under-resourcing, illnesses, retirements, departures, and struggles to recruit in an extremely competitive market,” the memo states.

“At full current staffing, we are at 55% of intended manpower, until the fall at least. Due to multiple shortages, waitlists for seeing newly referred cancer patients have reached record lengths. This is extremely distressing.”

One of the fallouts from the staffing challenges noted in the memo is the possibility that both “planned or urgent in-patient chemotherapy” may not be offered at KGH.

“We may not be able to provide this option to regional patients until a longer term solution is found,” the memo states. “We may need to refer patients to another region for therapy, if capacity exists elsewhere.”

Interior Health declined to comment on the leaked memo, instead referring the matter to BC Cancer. But BC Cancer never provided a comment to Castanet by publication time.

The Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre, the facility where cancer patients are treated at KGH, is one of BC Cancer's six regional care centres. On its website, the agency says the centre serves people from the Boundary, Cariboo, Kootenay, Okanagan, Similkameen and Thompson regions of B.C.

The memo notes that two doctors who previously provided support for KGH oncology patients are “no longer available to provide this support to the [Medical Oncology] department" as of June 6.

“There is not an immediate substitute care team for the considerable work they have done in support of patients with cancer at the hospital,” the memo states.

The memo comes amidst concerns about Interior Health's staffing issues across the region. Last week, BC Liberal MLAs, including Kelowna-Lake Country's Renee Merrifield, peppered Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix during Question Period about the region's issues.

“I have never seen morale lower than it is now and I've never seen such turnover,” Merrifield said, quoting KGH emergency physician Dr. Jeffrey Eppler. She added that KGH is overflowing with “more patients than they have available stretchers" and said B.C. is in a "healthcare crisis."

This week's memo from KGH's oncology department touches on the widespread issues the hospital is facing, noting the “extremely challenged times for all.”

“We understand and respect that all physician group are currently under significant strain, and have to figure out how to most safely navigate these circumstances.”

A number of rural emergency departments in the Interior have faced temporary closures in recent months due to staffing issues. The Clearwater emergency department was closed overnight last weekend, and it was closed again overnight Wednesday.

Photo: Contributed