Interior Health CEO touts ‘tremendous’ recruitment efforts but says more needed to avoid temporary ER closures

Interior Health says it’s seeing its staff vacancy rates come down as it works to bolster staffing to avoid temporary emergency room closures at hospitals.

Speaking at the Feb. 12 meeting of the Interior Health Board of Directors, Susan Brown said the health authority has “made tremendous efforts” in its recruitment efforts.

“We are seeing our vacancy rate come down as an organization, but we need to continue to really focus on that national and international recruitment to ensure that we have all our staff 100 per cent filled at every site, where we can, to really prevent any service disruptions,” Brown said.

Brown also said the ER closures — that disproportionately affect rural communities — are only done as “an absolute last resort.”

“As we know publicly, that has happened quite a bit in the past,” Brown said. “However, we have made tremendous efforts in recruitment, and with local leadership and physicians to try and minimize these wherever possible.”

Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz has been exceptional vocal about the issue, and he told CFJC he will continue to bill the province whenever the emergency room at the Nicola Valley Hospital is closed.

“We want our communities to know we’re really trying hard in this area,” Brown said.

“We are doing everything we can to mitigate by using locum pools of physicians. We’ve got some dedicated resources from other agencies or GoHealth BC to try and bolster our clinical teams.”