Interior Health staffing challenges lead to postponed surgeries, frustrated patients

KAMLOOPS — Hugh McLennan — longtime radio host, cowboy, musician and transplant recipient — has become part of another group in the Interior. He’s among the many people who have had a surgical procedure put on hold.

“A lot of what I do, work-related, is on horseback,” McLennan tells CFJC News, “and until the surgery is done I won’t even be able to get on a horse or do anything like that.”

McLennan’s leg was injured during an incident on horseback in late September and after a long time on the waitlist, he was set to have surgery in Salmon Arm on Feb. 15. However, a week before surgery day, McLennan says he got a call explaining it had been postponed indefinitely as a result of staffing redeployment.

While he’s frustrated and uncomfortable, McLennan is well aware that some of the challenges around staffing and surgery times were around before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Through my kidney transplant and being on dialysis I got to know a lot of the healthcare professionals through that process and I have the highest respect for them, you know. They’re wonderful, caring people doing their absolute best, and they’re so frustrated by this, too.”

Three weeks ago on Jan. 18, Interior Health announced there would be a reduction of non-urgent surgeries in response to Omicron-driven staffing challenges. At the time, public health anticipated the service changes could last around four weeks.

Emergency surgeries have continued, but since that announcement, IH CEO Susan Brown says approximately 1,200 non-urgent surgeries have been postponed.

“If we proceed to the full four weeks, which we anticipate we may need to do, it would be approximately a reduction of 2,700 surgeries, so that’s across all of Interior Health.”

In the next week Brown says management will reassess the amount of sick calls and COVID-19 positivity rates from staff and hopefully be able to resume more non-urgent surgical procedures.

“Much as this has been very inconvenient and disappointing to a number of residents, we will do our best to catch up as we come out of this as quickly as possible. But I’m able to forecast that better once I know exactly when the end date is.”

McLennan, meanwhile, hopes health care on a provincial scale will see permanent improvements so staffing and resources aren’t so strained. But for now, he’ll be keeping an ear out for that much-anticipated phone call with a new surgery date.

“It’s not going to be changed in a day or a month or even a year but if we don’t start making a lot of these changes as soon as possible, it’s just going to go on and on.”