Emergency service reduced at Oliver hospital
By ROY WOOD
Starting Monday, there will be reduced overnight emergency care at the Oliver hospital until at least the end of January.
Only patients with urgent conditions will be able to see a doctor between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. According to a release Friday from Interior Health, a shortage of doctors is to blame for the situation.
“Residents are advised that due to limited physician availability at the South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH) emergency department, there will be a temporary change to service during the overnight hours for the remainder of January,” the release said.
Patients who show up at emergency overnight will be assessed by a nurse. If the patient’s needs are deemed to be urgent, a doctor will be called.
A spokesman for Interior Health said in an interview that the doctor might be at home, elsewhere in the hospital or possibly at a nearby hotel.
“He or she will be responsive in a very short period of time,” said Dr. Curtis Bell, executive medical director for community and residential. “It’s not as though they’re going to be waiting hours, or anything like that.”
Bell said nurses would assess patients based on the five-point Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS). Patients who need to be resuscitated, are bleeding badly or who can’t breathe would likely see a doctor.
Essentially, said Bell, there will be no change for patients with urgent needs. But someone with symptoms like congestion or a sore throat – less urgent or non-urgent on the CTAS scale – will have to wait until morning.
Such patients will be encouraged to stay at the hospital until they can see a physician.
Patients who call an ambulance during the off hours will be taken directly to Penticton Regional Hospital. However, said Bell, ambulance drivers will have the option, in cases where a patient has very time-sensitive conditions, to stop at the Oliver hospital.
Bell said the change in service level is a result of a combination of factors, including doctors taking vacation, that have led to fewer physicians being available for the overnight emergency shift.
He said he has been assured that available staff “will be an augmentation of our staff” at the end of the month and that the emergency staffing levels will return to normal.