The seven obstetrician-gynecologists who tendered their resignations from a hospital in Kamloops, B.C., this month say they were routinely forced to choose which mothers and babies to treat as staff shortages and extreme burnout made conditions unsafe.

Their concerns are outlined in a statement they released Monday, which provides more detail into what compelled the entire group to step away from in-hospital care at Royal Inland Hospital.

“When we are forced to ration care, have patients wait longer than they should, or suffer the harm that long waits can cause, everyone involved experiences stress and moral injury,” said doctors Hilary Baikie, Jennifer Kozic, Paula Lott, Erin Adams, Michael Hsiao, Rita Chuang and Christine Sutton.

In their statement, the doctors said they had raised several issues with B.C.’s Ministry of Health as well as Interior Health, the local health authority. They include OB/GYNs on-call for 24-hour shifts being expected to cover all obstetrical emergencies and perform surgical assists, which the doctors said forced them to make “impossible choices” about who they could tend to and who had to wait.

A physician who is assisting with a complicated surgery who is then called by a midwife to perform a C-section, for example, must decide at that moment which patient to prioritize.

Seven OB/GYNs at Kamloops hospital resign, citing unsafe workloads, lack of support

The doctors said they recently proposed to the government that the on-call physician only serve emergency patients during the 24-hour shift. The ministry countered that the physician perform emergency obstetrics, unscheduled gynecology and scheduled obstetrics, the doctors said.

“This is not safe for our patients,” the statement said.

The doctors also cited “extreme” burnout from regularly covering two or more 24-hour shifts per week; a disproportionate amount of time spent doing obstetrical call shifts, leaving little time for gynecology patients; and “inadequate” help from government with the recruiting of new OB/GYNs to Royal Inland.

B.C.’s Ministry of Health did not provide a response to the doctors’ statement by deadline.

The group submitted its intent to resign on Oct. 1, and Interior Health accepted on Oct. 10. Both Health Minister Josie Osborne and Mark Masterson, vice-president of medicine for Interior Health, have said they have identified 12 potential OB/GYN candidates for the hospital in the past few months and are hoping to expedite the hiring of as many as eight or nine.

In the meantime, locums and OB/GYNs from elsewhere in the province are being offered $7,100 a day, with overnight premiums, to provide coverage.

B.C. seeks to assure patients OB/GYN services available after resignations

Peter Milobar, the Conservative MLA for Kamloops Centre, grilled the Health Minister about the issue during Monday’s Question Period in the legislature.

“The unfortunate resignation of seven OB/GYNs – the whole department in Kamloops – should not have come as a shock to this government, or to this minister, given that for the last several years, they have been trying to get changes and agreements negotiated with the government,” he said.

Mr. Milobar asked the minister to explain dismissing the OB/GYNs “instead of actually negotiating for patient safety and physician safety in Kamloops.”

In response, Ms. Osborne said “the OB/GYNs have been negotiating with Interior Health, and that work continues.” However, the doctors said they are not currently involved in any negotiations, and that the ministry advised them that it has little reason to return to the table.

The minister also reiterated that patients requiring obstetrical care should present themselves to Royal Inland, and that care will be available.