vaughn palmer: gag order or not, b.c.'s hospital crisis story is spreading
4 minute read
thirty-five physicians at surrey memorial hospital recently signed a letter complaining of overcrowding and understaffing.
jason payne
/
png
victoria — the b.c. health care system remains in crisis, despite government efforts to keep a lid on the extent of the problem.
ground zero for the controversy is beleaguered surrey memorial hospital.
earlier this month, a group of surrey doctors banded together to issue a cautionary letter and establish a website — hospital in crisis — to alert the public that some patients were suffering and others dying because of deteriorating care at the overwhelmed facility.
the doctors did so anonymously, fearing retribution.
then one of their number, emergency room dr. jesse gill, came forward to spell out concerns about congestion in the emergency department and shortages of admitting doctors and acute care beds.
“the other issue we really wanted to address with the letter is the need for the public to be aware,” dr. gill told harjinder thind on ckye radio last week. “patients have a right — and we have a duty — to make sure that everybody is informed of what’s going on.”
the doctors tried to alert the hospital administration about the problems, going back six months. at a meeting in early may, they were led to believe that some sort of communication would be forthcoming to advise the public of the situation.
advertisement
when nothing happened, they decided to go public themselves, mindful of the risk of speaking out.
“that’s always at the back of any physician’s head,” dr. gill told the radio audience. “if you think about historically how physicians have really been almost muzzled — to not be able to speak outside of some sort of communications department that’s going to relay the message.”
responding to the concerns was dr. victoria lee, ceo of fraser health, which includes surrey.
she acknowledged more needs to be done to reduce pressure at surrey memorial, but denied any patient deaths could be attributed to the overcrowding.
she hadn’t seen the doctors’ letter and denied issuing any kind of gag order on doctors. health minister adrian dix likewise denied there was a gag order applied to health care professionals.
but this week, another member of the doctors’ group, dr. urbain ip, picked up the theme, with examples.
“for instance, when the emergency physicians wanted to make a poster to display in the waiting room of the emergency to tell the public that we are experiencing a critical staffing shortage and congestion, wait time might be significantly delayed, please be patient — the poster was not allowed by the fraser health leadership,” dr. ip told jas johal on cknw radio this week.
advertisement
“a few er physicians have been reprimanded because they document in the patient’s chart that … there might be compromised care. they want to document it to protect themselves, and they get reprimanded.”
dr. ip acknowledged that there might not be a gag order in so many words.
“but i do remember at one point that one of the vice-presidents told the physician that i don’t want you guys to go to the public without going through fraser health’s communications department.”
the 30-year veteran of surrey memorial said he had heard from some colleagues, concerned that the hospital leadership might be mad at him for speaking out.
“i said that, ‘look, i worked in here for 30 years. i’m at the end of my career, but i’m not retired yet and i really love this hospital, and i’ll be the face of the group.’”
also speaking out to warn patients about deteriorating care were a group of doctors associated with lady minto hospital on salt spring island.
“there is a severe staffing shortage of physicians covering emergency room shifts,” they wrote in a letter published friday in the gulf islands driftwood newspaper. “there are twenty-five 12-hour shifts that are not covered for the period up until the end of august.”
advertisement
the hospital is activating a diversion protocol for times when there is no on-site physician.
“however, the situation on salt spring island is unique as there is no opportunity for an ambulance or patients to drive down the highway to the next emergency department.
“there is significant risk associated with this as many medical problems cannot be managed by phone. transportation off-island can be complex and may delay care even when the transport request is at the highest level.”
compounding the problem is an overloaded emergency department, brought on by the significant number of salt spring residents who don’t have a family doctor.
all 11 doctors signed the letter in a bid for public support in pressuring the government for solutions.
in response, island health, which has already recruited more nurses and one doctor to work at lady minto, pledged to do more.
similar warnings about deteriorating care have been issued recently at saanich peninsula and langley memorial hospitals.
gag order or not, the story is spreading, and the crisis continues with no end in sight.
dix routinely boasts that the new democrats have added almost 40,000 health care workers. they have also increased health care spending by $10 billion since taking office.
advertisement
if that’s not enough, you have to wonder how much money and staff it would take to end the crisis.
spring subscription sale: our in-depth journalism is possible thanks to the support of our subscribers. for a limited time, you can get full online access to the vancouver sun and the province, along with the national post and 13 other canadian news sites, for just $40 for one year or $1 a week for 52 weeks. support our journalism by subscribing today: the vancouver sun | the province.
share story
