The Barriere and District Health Centre is seen in this image from Google Street View.
Image Credit: GOOGLE STREET VIEW
January 19, 2022 - 2:30 PM
Services in some rural health centres in the southern Interior are temporarily closed, reduced or rescheduled as of yesterday due to staff shortages caused by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the Mayor of Barriere is not pleased with the lack of communication from Interior Health.
The Barriere and District Health Centre was closed yesterday, Jan. 18, to redeploy medical staff to nearby emergency departments.
Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer said the Interior Health Authority did not give him notice ahead of time, consultation or communication in the matter, and he is frustrated.
READ MORE: Interior Health closing rural ERs, rescheduling surgeries to cope with staff shortage
“I got the same email as anybody else,” Stamer said. “It is disrespectful on their part, they could have easily appointed someone to discuss how we are to best coordinate current and future patients from here and the Simpcw First Nation just north of us. We have a lot of seniors to consider and we are a considerable way on winter roads from a hospital.”
The health centre in Barriere normally provides services like lab work and diagnostic testing. Stamer said those patients will now have to go to Kamloops for services.
“It is not fair to the residents of Kamloops and surrounding areas because of the effect more patients will have on a system that is already overloaded,” Stamer said. “This is a huge deal and will cause shortfalls in care because of population and delay in services.”
For emergency situations, residents in Barriere are to either visit Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital and Health Centre in Clearwater, 59 kilometres away, or Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, 64 km away.
Stamer said ambulance services in Barriere that typically run critical patients to the hospital in Kamloops are further strained.
“With the amount of senior citizens and low income residents who cannot afford transportation, there will be a heavier reliance on our local ambulance service to transport citizens needing all levels of care now,” he said.
READ MORE: COVID hospitalizations in B.C. continue to climb, hitting 854
Stamer suggested keeping a reduced staff working reduced hours could be a possible way to lessen the pressure on the system.
“We are in this together and I understand the pressures COVID is causing,” the mayor said. “But I am disappointed that we didn’t have the opportunity to discuss what things we can do to make it easier for the people who are impacted by this.”
No one from Interior Health immediately responded to a request for comment.
In press release issued yesterday, Interior Health president and CEO Susan Brown said current COVID-19 pressures have led to a staffing crisis that requires temporary emergency measures to maintain access to essential services that are relied on regionally.
“Interior Health is proactively identifying services to adjust and relocate in order to maintain safe patient care,” Brown said in a media release. “We will resume normal operations in impacted communities as soon as possible and in the meantime, we are temporarily reassigning and redeploying staff to sustain essential services throughout the region.
“We regret the impacts these service adjustments may cause and will be contacting patients, clients and residents directly to address care needs wherever possible.”
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