BURSTA local health care advocacy group is staging a second rally outside Royal Inland Hospital to bring attention to what it calls an “escalating maternity care crisis” in the Kamloops area.
Maternity Matters Kamloops is holding the rally on Saturday, Nov. 29, which is International Women Human Rights Defender Day.
The rally will take place at 1 p.m. outside the Kamloops hospital, where seven obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs) resigned last month, citing what they called unsafe working conditions and unmanageable workloads on their way out.
Maternity Matters Kamloops describes itself as a grassroots collective of local advocates, birth workers, parents and community members. It’s calling for progress from Interior Health and the Health Ministry in solving the ongoing maternity care situation in Kamloops.
“The situation has grown even more critical as the countdown to OB/GYN resignations and clinic closures moves forward,” the group said in a press release Tuesday, Nov. 25. “Birth workers warn that the current conditions place both pregnant patients and newborns at increased risk of harm.”
The group claims many frontline workers are restricted by Interior Health from speaking publicly.
“Some have turned to Maternity Matters Kamloops to share their concerns confidentially due to fear of professional consequences,” the group stated. “Their experiences underscore the urgent need for continued public outcry, as those working on the frontlines are reporting continued confusion and burnout, with no real solution in sight.”
Interior Health faced two waves of resignations last month, when on top of the Kamloops OB/GYN resignations, four psychiatrists tendered their resignations at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
Dr. Peter Bosma, executive medical director for Interior Health North, told Black Press Media at the time that workloads are heavy for health care professionals in the region, as they are elsewhere, adding this owes to a short supply of health care specialists “everywhere.”
Bosma said a “significant” offer was made to the Kamloops OB/GYNs which was refused.
For their part, the outgoing Kamloops maternity specialists weren’t asking for better compensation, just better working conditions.
Maternity Matters Kamloops said it’s looking to amplify the voices of those affected by the state of Royal Inland’s maternity ward by demanding that Interior Health and the ministry take “concrete steps to stabilize and restore safe maternity care in Kamloops.”
The group is also calling for transparency and proactivity when it comes to the health authority’s communication of its efforts to improve the situation.
“To instill public confidence and reduce community confusion, health administrators must provide meaningful updates about their progress,” the group said.
For more information, visit maternitymatterskamloops.com.
Black Press has reached out to Interior Health for comment.