黑马磁力

In light of recent calls for change and confusion about the future of healthcare in Kelowna, three MLAs have organized a town hall where all residents are invited to have their voices heard. 

The town hall meeting will be held at the Coast Capri Hotel on July 2, from 5 until 7 p.m.

All people are welcome to attend to learn and voice their concerns about the current healthcare crisis that is impacting the Kelowna General Hospital. 

To announce the town hall and draw attention to the need for urgent change, B.C. Conservative MLAs representing the Kelowna area Gavin Dew, Kristina Loewen, and Macklin McCall, held a press conference across the street from KGH's busy emergency department. 

Pediatricians, emergency room physicians,

The KGH pediatric ward has been closed since May 26, due to a staff shortage, and there are currently no family physicians available to deliver babies for people without a primary care provider. 

Until the ward is reopened, all children who present to KGH with medical concerns requiring admission for further care, surgery or monitoring, must be transferred to another site. Obstetricians, who typically only manage complex labours only, now must take on the extra caseload and deliver all babies born to people without a primary care provider in the hospital.

"There has never been a time when we have had adequate resources. You can't just burn us out like this," said the. "You're killing us."

In 2023, seven pediatricians decided to step away from the hospital in part due to what they have described as "unsafe work environments." In a joint letter, pediatricians from Kelowna say they were stretched far too thin and overworked without the proper supports. 

The pediatricians said that without supports like more pediatricians on shift at a time and the hiring of specialists, they will be unable to give their patients the care and attention they deserve. Since the mass resignation in 2023, additional pediatricians have stepped away from the hospital or reduced their hours, forcing the hospital to close the ward until it is able to properly staff the department. 

"The fact that doctors are speaking up in the way that they are doing now publicly, or through us as MLAs tells you just how bad the situation is, just how little confidence they have in the system and just how big a breakdown in communication and trust there has been with the corporate leadership of Interior Health," said MLA Gavin Dew at the press conference. 

The three politicians pointed to staffing shortages, a breakdown in leadership, and growing public concern as evidence that the current approach to health care governance is no longer acceptable. 

Dew is also calling for the immediate CEO Susan Brown, stating if Brown does not resign, he will call on Minister of Health Josie Osborne to take immediate action to dismiss her and appoint an interim CEO while a permanent leadership transition is completed.

Osborne is being urged to attend the town hall, although she has not confirmed her attendance. 

To attend the town hall to speak with Dew, Loewen and McCall about the care crisis register at