Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
December 15, 2021 - 6:00 AM
Out of 114 non-emergency, non-urgent surgeries that were cancelled in B.C. last week (Dec. 5-11), 80 were in the Interior Health region.
In recent weeks there were higher numbers of cancelled surgeries in the Lower Mainland but those were tied more to the flooding than the overcrowding that’s endemic in Kelowna General Hospital and, particularly, at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Yesterday, Dec. 13, there were 298 patients in Royal Inland Hospital and only 279 base plus surge beds, Health Minister Adrian Dix told iNFOnews.ca. It is the only hospital in B.C. that is consistently over capacity.
Today, at a news briefing, Dix gave out the statistics about postponed surgeries.
Over the past few weeks, two people have reported repeated delays in amputation surgeries that resulted in them having a leg amputated below the knee then again above the knee. A third person is waiting for similar surgery.
READ MORE: Third patient waited too long for an amputation at Royal Inland Hospital
“Surgeries such as amputations, which are described as urgent scheduled surgeries, have been carrying on throughout the pandemic, even during periods where there have been slowdowns in surgeries, such as the month of November,” Dix told iNFOnews.ca yesterday.
That's not what the patients experienced as they talked about repeated postponements.
Last week, two of the 14 operating rooms in Kelowna were closed. All the operating rooms at Royal Inland were open but running at reduced capacity, according to an email from Interior Health.
“Postponing surgeries frees up beds for people requiring critical care and staff are redeployed to support care needs,” the email said.
Dix did not say how long it might take to catch up on the backlog of postponed surgeries in the region.
READ MORE: Omicron has reached the Interior Health region
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News from © iNFOnews, 2021