Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

A Kamloops maternity clinic is facing impending closure again as its remaining overworked doctors shut the doors to new patients.

The patient load for pre-partum and post-partum care at the clinic attached to Royal Inland Hospital has put doctors in an "unsafe environment" and will only carry on with their current patients for the next six months, according to a Thompson Region Family Obstetric Group media release posted to social media.

"After this period, the future of family practice obstetrics at Royal Inland Hospital remains uncertain," the release read.

It comes two years after the maternity clinic's doors were nearly closed for good and a little more than a month after the health authority announced Royal Inland's maternity floor was facing staffing shortages and "potential gaps in physician scheduling." 

"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," Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar said.

"It puts a lot of stress on pregnant women and families, it means some may choose not to go through the hassle and miss checkpoints they should be having for prenatal health. So, it's a very bad situation. It's not like this is a nice-to-have service."

Though the obstetrics clinic is facing closure, Interior Health also opened its own midwifery and pre-natal department within the hospital two years ago, but it requires a doctor's referral unlike the obstetrics clinic. It's not clear if that department is affected, nor is it clear whether the "potential gaps" in maternity ward staffing have been filled.

"In light of what we've heard announced by (Thompson Region Family Obstetric), if ever there was a time for the health minister to be very clear about what the state of maternity care in Kamloops is and what the plan is moving forward, now would be a hell of a good time for her to speak up," Milobar said.

iNFOnews.ca reached out to Interior Health about the obstetrics clinic and its maternity ward. The health authority didn't respond to questions by deadline, but it did issue public service announcement about the obstetrics clinic today.

According to the health authority, the potential closure frees up physician time to focus on labour and delivery at the hospital.

"We recognize the significant impact any change in maternity services can have on expectant individuals and families. Upon receiving the notice from (Thompson Region Family Obstetric), Interior Health started immediate actions to address the concerns raised and maintain access to services, which is a mutual goal of the (Thompson Region Family Obstetric) physicians and Interior Health," the release read.

Patients already attached to the obstetrics clinic can continue with their appointments as doctors commit to seeing patients until six weeks after they give birth. By March, it risks closure, the clinic said.

With very few obstetrician and gynecologist specialists available, the ones who are still attached fill a "consultive-only role," with family physicians filling in the gap, the clinic said.

"The sheer volume and lack of support for high-risk patients has resulted in (obstetrics) physicians frequently working beyond the normal scope of family practice obstetrics. Due to this unsafe work environment and lack of competitive compensation, several providers have resigned, locum coverage is minimal and we have been unable to recruit new graduates as expected," the clinic said in the news release.

In order to keep the clinic open, it said it would urgently need new physicians and an established network of specialists committed to continues coverage.

— This story was updated at 4:16 p.m., Sept. 10, 2025, to correctly state the hospital's maternity ward had a shortage of doctors, but it hadn't closed.

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