The crisis of care at South Okanagan General Hospital ramped up Thursday with the Regional Directors at the RDOS agreeing to support doctors in Oliver and Osoyoos who work in the emergency ward. Eight of the doctors are threatening to withdraw services in July if nothing is done to remedy what they call the unfair compensation of physicians.

The Oliver-Osoyoos doctors want the same fee arrangement as the one in Penticton. South Okanagan General handles 18,000 emergency cases each year with Penticton handling about 32,000. If the emergency ward at Oliver was to close – Penticton Regional Hospital could not cover for that amount of work. A delegation from the RDOS is set to meet with the Minister of Health in the weeks ahead.

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The motion below passed at the Regional Board Thursday in Penticton with only one member opposed.

THAT the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen support the request to the Minister of Health to change the method of payment for physicians working in the Emergency Ward at the South Okanagan General Hospital from Fee for Service to Salary; and,

THAT the Salary offered be similar to that offered for similar services at the Penticton Regional Hospital.

History:
The South Okanagan General Hospital is located in the Town of Oliver and is currently experiencing over 18,000 visits to the emergency ward/ year. Attending physicians are paid on a “Fee for Service” basis while those physicians offering similar services in Penticton are paid a salary.

Eight physicians currently staffing the Emergency Ward at SOGH have tendered their resignations, to be effective in early July 2011. This will effectively close the Emergency Ward at SOGH. Elected Officials from Osoyoos, Oliver, Electoral Area A, Electoral Area C and the Chair of the South Okanagan Regional Hospital District met with affected physicians and have determined that, among a number of variables, the payment methodology is a key factor. A number of the physicians would withdraw their resignations if they received an equitable pay to their colleagues in Penticton.

Alternatives:
1. Support the SOGH Emergency Ward Physicians in their effort to achieve equitable pay for providing services.
2. Remain neutral

Analysis:
The attending physicians, in addition to providing coverage at the SOGH Emergency Ward, run private practices. The Emergency Ward can be very busy during summer months and the Fee for Service is generally adequate to cover time missed at their practice. During the winter months or shoulder seasons, there may be times when the volume of patients at the emergency ward doesn’t adequately compensate physicians for closing their practice.

In addition, the SOGH physician pool is maturing and not all of the physicians can provide the time to their hospital duties as they have in the past. With the different payment methodology, it’s unlikely that SOGH can attract physician coverage from Penticton when they pay less. With the hospitals feeding each other, being almost interdependent, it would only make sense that the payment methodology be similar.

The elected officials from the most directly affected local governments will meet with the Minister to discuss this serious problem. A letter of support from the Regional District and from the South Okanagan Regional Hospital may be of assistance in getting the Minister’s attention.