Maternity care challenges hit Kamloops as physicians group halts new referrals

Interior Health has announced changes to primary care maternity services in Kamloops

According to IH, the Thompson Region Family Obstetrics (TRFO) has decided to close to new referrals.

The decision by the physician group is meant to allow them to dedicate available physician resources to critical 24-7 labor and delivery services at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH).

“Upon receiving the notice from TRFO, Interior Health (IH) started immediate actions to address the concerns raised and maintain access to services, which is a mutual goal of the TRFO physicians and IH,” a release said.

The health authority advises anyone in labor to still go to RIH to be assessed. Emergency care for imminent labour and urgent complications will be available there.

Patients who don’t have a maternity care provider are being told to explore other options.

That includes contacting their family doctor or nurse practitioner, if they have one.

Expecting families are also being told to connect with Healthy from the Start (1-855-868-7710) for additional support and information.

Anyone without a family doctor is being directed to First Step Early Pregnancy Clinic, which provides care up to 30 weeks of pregnancy.

People without a regular primary care or maternal care provider will still be able to access labor and delivery services at RIH where they will be assessed, however, depending on staff availability, transportation to a different hospital for delivery may be possible.

“If out-of-community care is required, families will be informed, and transportation and accommodation support will be provided if needed,” IH said.

More information can be found by calling the RIH labor and delivery department at (250) 314-2635.

“Interior Health acknowledges that the current situation may cause concern for the community, especially patients and families,” the release said. “We remain committed to providing timely updates as new information becomes available.”

The announcement comes about a month and a half after IH warned of “potential changes to maternity services” at RIH due to gaps in maternity department physician scheduling over the summer.

Hospitals across the BC Interior have been hit by maternity and pediatric service issues all summer.

Kelowna’s General Hospital’s pediatric unit was closed for several weeks due to a shortage of physicians. During that closure, physicians at KGH also warned of a “growing crisis” in maternity care in the Central Okanagan.

On the same day that IH made its original announcement about impacts to maternity services at RIH, MLAs across northern BC sounded the alarm about impacts in their regions.

That included interruptions to maternity services at the University Hospital of Northern BC (UHNBC) in Prince George.

That hospital is where hospitals in Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Hazelton, Terrace, and Prince Rupert already send high-risk pregnancies. Thosee impacts also resulted in the potential for patients to be transferred to other hospitals in Kamloops or Vancouver.