Royal Inland Hospital is pictured in this file photo.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC / iNFOnews.ca)

With fewer maternal care options in Kamloops, it means more doctors to call-in when a mother is in labour.

That according to an Interior Health executive who said there's a glut of specialists across the country, so places like Royal Inland Hospital are triaging and deciding where care is most urgent.

The Thompson Region Family Obstetrics clinic, which offers pregnancy care before and after birth, recently announced it had stopped taking new patients as of this month. It comes weeks after the health authority announced a shortage of doctors on the hospital maternity floor was leading to "potential scheduling gaps," meaning there was a chance mothers in labour would be sent to other hospitals. No patients have been sent elsewhere from Royal Inland Hospital since the announcement.

"I think this is part of (the clinic's) objective in not taking more patients at the moment," Dr. Peter Bosma said. "That's 100 per cent where we want to make sure we're covered. You're triaging what's the most important thing, knowing everything is important."

Bosma oversees hospitals across the region, including Royal Inland. He said hiring maternal care specialists is extremely competitive and while they are actively hiring, it can take between six months to a year to bring on a new doctor.

It's the second time since 2023 the obstetrics clinic announced it may close due to a shortage of doctors.

It came to an agreement with the province to keep its doors open, with the expectation that it could pave the way to hire more permanent doctors, but it's not clear what specifics were contained in that agreement.

In addition to the need for more doctors, Bosma said Interior Health may need to modify the existing system for the people currently working. What that means or what needs to be changed isn't clear.

"All the care providers have said, 'We love what we're doing, we want to keep doing it and the way things are designed at times can provide challenges to that,'" Bosma said. "We have the models of care there where people are working together, and it's an ongoing... plan-do-study-act cycle like anything in life."

He did say that along with doctors, midwives are in short supply, while the payment structure for doctors still appears to be a challenge.

"We're going to look at appropriate care models for high-risk, low-risk and all obstetrical patients," he said. "We'll speak with the (health) ministry about compensation, because we're in a free market and we have to somewhat acknowledge we're still in a resource-constrained environment."

The pressing staff shortage at the hospital and the clinic's potential closure in March was met with stiff criticism by Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar.

"It's all interconnected. If any of that shuts down, it creates massive pressures on the other parts. What we saw last time when the clinic was shutting down, that meant women would have to go to emergency," Milobar said.

Until physician and specialist shortages are alleviated, Bosma said patients should still go to their family doctors or the urgent care clinic and the emergency department when needed.

"Anybody who is pregnant... the message is please, come to the hospital with your questions. We will make sure you're taken care of appropriately and we'll direct you to where we can best provide the care," he said.

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