All ob-gyns at Kamloops, B.C., hospital announce resignations

Lauren Vanderdeen · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 16, 2025 2:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: October 16

All obstetrician-gynecologists astatine Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) successful Kamloops, B.C., person jointly announced their resignations from the hospital, leaving immoderate expectant parents disquieted for the future.

In a missive dated Saturday, the radical of 7 doctors said they decided to permission their full-scope ob-gyn practices owed to information issues resulting from a changing workload and ongoing recruitment struggles.

“It is reasonably unprecedented for an full radical of physicians to depart, but with the authorities of obstetrics successful our assemblage and with the upcoming nonaccomplishment of the [Thompson Region Family Obstetrics] group, we spot nary viable mode forward,” said doctors Hilary Baikie, Jennifer Kozic, Paula Lott, Erin Adams, Michael Hsiao, Rita Chuang and Christine Sutton successful the letter.

The ob-gyns volition nary longer supply in-hospital attraction specified arsenic labour, transportation and caesarian sections erstwhile replacements tin beryllium found.

WATCH | Resignations permission expectant parent wondering what volition happen:

The doctors said they anticipation the “near full loss” of low- and high-risk obstetrics successful Kamloops volition motivate the Interior Health Authority to amended enactment women’s health.

They said they program to cautiously signifier retired diligent care, and a fig of the doctors expect to proceed in-office outpatient gynecology work.

They volition nonstop retired notices for phased withdrawal of in-hospital care, and each surgeon volition interaction surgical patients connected their waitlist to program for adjacent steps, according to the letter.

“RIH is the archetypal larger centre to fold owed to the systemic underfunding of women’s healthcare. We bash not expect it volition beryllium the last,” the doctors warned.

CBC News contacted the 7 doctors, but each declined to beryllium interviewed.

Expectant parent Brianna Jones, who works astatine Thompson Rivers University successful Kamloops and is 20 weeks pregnant, said the quality of the resignations has her acrophobic for her delivery.

“I’m rather tense for however that’s going to look, besides arsenic an older ma that besides plays into things. So I’m hoping everything goes smoothly,” she said.

Recruitment a challenge: Interior Health

Interior Health president and CEO Sylvia Weir said the wellness authorization volition beryllium a portion of the modulation readying on with Perinatal Services B.C. to guarantee diligent attraction is maintained.

Weir stressed that thing volition alteration for patients successful the contiguous aboriginal and added it volition beryllium a months-long process.

Sylvia Weir, president and CEO of Interior Health Authority, says her squad is moving connected recruiting ob-gyns. (CBC News)

She said she spoke to the doctors implicit the weekend, and heard astir their feelings of burnout.

Weir said she respected the doctors’ determination to resign, adding that the recruitment of obstetricians has been a situation not lone successful B.C., but crossed Canada.

“But we person recovered qualified obstetricians successful the past and we volition find them again.”

Health curate says caller recruits coming

B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said she takes the substance precise seriously.

“It’s evidently precise concerning to spot a radical of physicians who consciousness pushed to this point,” she said.

Osborne said the cardinal contented is simply a shortage of health-care professionals successful peculiar areas similar maternity services.

She said Interior Health has identified much than a twelve qualified candidates to bolster its ob-gyn presumption capacity.

B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne fielded questions astir the resignation of 7 obstetrician-gynecologists astatine Royal Inland Hospital successful Kamloops, B.C. (CBC News)

She said the authorities is successful the process of finalizing a caller declaration connection that would “significantly summation compensation to amended enactment workloads [and] amended recruitment and retention.”

She added the wellness ministry is expanding the fig of grooming seats to onboard much ob-gyns.

But Peter Milobar, B.C. Conservative MLA for Kamloops Centre, said it’s shocking to perceive of the resignations and origin for different regions to interest for their ain maternity care.

“This has been thing that this authorities has been warned astir for galore years now, it’s fallen connected deaf ears, and the doctors person taken this benignant of utmost adjacent step,” helium said.

Milobar said helium wants the wellness curate to perpetrate to a semipermanent program for maternity attraction successful Kamloops.