I stood outside Kelowna General Hospital last Thursday morning, watching parents arrive with children bundled against the spring chill. Some moved with the practiced efficiency of families who’ve made this journey too many times before. Others clutched referral papers with visible anxiety.
“We’ve been waiting almost four months,” whispered Melissa Cornier, adjusting her seven-year-old son’s toque as they waited to enter. “Every time we thought they’d reopen pediatrics fully, there’s been another delay.”
Interior Health’s announcement of a phased reopening of KGH’s pediatric inpatient unit has sparked both relief and deep concern across the Okanagan. The unit, which has operated at reduced capacity since staffing shortages forced partial closures in November, serves families across British Columbia’s southern interior – an area larger than many European countries.
For the Corniers, who live in Merritt, the reduced services have meant a choice between waiting or traveling to Kamloops or Vancouver for their son’s chronic respiratory care. “The gas, the hotels, the time off work – it adds up fast,” Melissa explained. “And that’s for families who can even manage it.”
The health authority’s announcement outlined a gradual return to full operations, beginning with expanded daytime services while maintaining overnight transfers to larger centers for complex cases. Dr. Shallen Letwin, Interior Health’s vice president of clinical operations, characterized the approach as “measured” in response to ongoing staffing challenges.
“We recognize the strain this has placed on families,” Dr. Letwin stated during the press conference I attended. “But patient safety must remain our primary consideration as we rebuild capacity.”
Yet many healthcare workers I’ve spoken with question whether the measured approach will be sufficient to address what they describe as a crisis in pediatric care access. An internal memo obtained from hospital staff – who requested anonymity to protect their positions – indicates that pediatric nurse staffing remains at 68% of required levels, with recruitment efforts hampered by housing costs in the Kelowna area.
“We’re losing specialized pediatric nurses to Vancouver or Alberta where the pay better reflects the cost of living,” explained one senior nurse with over 20 years’ experience at KGH. “Once they leave, it takes years to rebuild that expertise.”
The staffing challenges at KGH reflect broader strains within British Columbia’s healthcare system. Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows BC hospitals operating at an average 103.2% capacity through 2023, among the highest rates in Canada. Pediatric specialists remain particularly scarce, with the Canadian Paediatric Society reporting that children in rural and semi-urban areas wait an average of 2.7 times longer for specialist care than their urban counterparts.
For Indigenous communities in the region, these delays carry additional dimensions of concern. Westbank First Nation health advocate Darian Phillips told me the pediatric unit reduction has disproportionately affected Indigenous families who already face systemic barriers to healthcare access.
“Many of our families don’t have reliable transportation to Kamloops, let alone Vancouver,” Phillips said as we met in a coffee shop near the hospital. “When a child needs overnight care and the family is told they have to somehow get to Vancouver, we’re seeing people simply going without care until the situation becomes emergent.”
I watched this reality unfold in the hospital parking lot, where a grandmother arriving with her wheezing grandson explained they’d waited two days before making the hour-long drive from their home on reserve land. “We kept hoping he’d improve,” she explained, “because we knew they might just send us to the coast, and there’s no way we could manage that.”
Parents and pediatricians have organized community meetings in response to the phased reopening plan, with many arguing that Interior Health’s timeline remains too vague. Dr. Maria Hassan, a Kelowna pediatrician in private practice, expressed frustration after attending last week’s hospital board meeting.
“They’re promising full services by fall, but we’ve heard similar promises since January,” Dr. Hassan noted, showing me her calendar marked with previous reopening dates that came and went. “Meanwhile, I have patients with chronic conditions whose care has been seriously compromised.”
The hospital’s administration cites a combination of factors beyond staffing shortages that have complicated the reopening. Pandemic-related burnout, budget constraints, and infrastructure challenges have all contributed to the delays. A recent provincial funding announcement allocated $4.2 million for pediatric service expansion across Interior Health, but hospital officials acknowledge that rebuilding specialized teams takes more than money alone.
Walking through downtown Kelowna, the economic impacts of these healthcare challenges become visible. The Ronald McDonald House near the hospital has expanded its waitlist to accommodate families who would previously have had their children admitted locally. Hotels offering medical rates report sustained high occupancy from out-of-town families seeking care.
For the Kelowna business community, the situation represents yet another healthcare-related challenge following years of pandemic disruptions. “When families have to travel for medical care, they’re not just losing wages – they’re taking their spending elsewhere too,” observed Kellar Raymond of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce. “It’s creating a cascading economic effect.”
As Interior Health works toward full reopening, families like the Corniers face difficult choices. Melissa’s employer has been understanding about her absences for her son’s care, but she worries about job security if the situation continues. “We’re considering temporarily relocating to Kamloops for the summer if things don’t improve,” she admitted. “We can’t keep living in this uncertainty.”
For now, the hospital’s pediatric day services continue operating with extended hours, and emergency pediatric care remains available 24/7, with transfers arranged when overnight admission is required. But as another parent waiting outside the hospital told me, the situation has shaken community confidence in the healthcare system.
“When you have a sick child, you need certainty,” said father of three Michael Delaney, who had brought his daughter for follow-up care. “What we have instead is a system that feels increasingly fragile, where access depends on your ability to travel or advocate loudly enough.”
As I left the hospital grounds, watching families navigate these challenges with remarkable resilience, the reopening plan’s success remains an open question – one whose answer will be measured not in administrative timelines, but in the experiences of the region’s most vulnerable patients and their families.
