Every day, health care workers across B.C. are faced with understaffed clinics and hospitals, thousands of patients who don’t have access to primary care, long hours, and a lack of support from health authorities.
It’s no wonder so many health care workers are dealing with burnout.
Staffing issues are plaguing our entire health care system, but we have firsthand experience with the problem here in the Cariboo.
Cariboo Memorial Hospital is dealing with a dire staff shortage, and it’s impacting not just our community, but the surrounding region as well.
At present, the emergency department is staffed by only two and a half physicians — this for a department that should have eight or nine doctors. Hospital staff are doing their best, but it’s impossible to provide the highest quality of care when you don’t have the support you need.
Adding to the problem is the chronic shortage of family doctors in the region, with an estimated 8,000 people still without a family doctor.
Because of this lack of family doctors, Interior Health is starting to consider sending unattached patients to other hospitals rather than admitting them to Cariboo Memorial.
Patients may now be sent to 100 Mile House or Royal Inland Hospital simply because there are not enough doctors in Williams Lake to care for them.
It’s clear that action is needed to address this critical situation. Health Minister Adrian Dix needs to step in and provide relief — because Interior Health has been unable to solve the problem. We need clear solutions like bringing more doctors to our region, considering a pathway back to employment for unvaccinated health care workers, allowing physician assistants to practice in B.C., and most importantly, working to retain the staff we have right now.
These are not new problems, but they are growing more serious by the day. Health care workers want to help. They have no shortage of suggestions and potential solutions. Government just needs to be willing to listen, and then act.
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