Ob-gyns at Kamloops hospital cite 'extreme' burnout as reason for resigning en masse

Courtney Dickson · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 21, 2025 8:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 22

A radical of obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) astatine Kamloops’s lone infirmary are citing “extreme doc burnout” and an "obligation to beryllium successful 2 places astatine once” arsenic portion of the crushed they resigned from their posts earlier this month. 

On Oct. 11, each 7 obs-gyns astatine Royal Inland Hospital announced they were resigning their infirmary privileges — meaning they’d nary longer supply in-hospital attraction during labour, transportation and caesarian sections.  

At the time, the doctors cited information issues owed to workload and trouble recruiting much physicians arsenic their crushed for their wide departure, but now, the radical is spelling retired precisely what led to their drastic measures. 

In a media connection issued Monday, the radical says it has concerns astir 4 main issues: simultaneous telephone and surgical shifts, the conflict to enlistee much ob-gyns, disproportionate clip doing obstetrical enactment that means they cannot bash gynaecological work, and burnout — apt the effect of the archetypal 3 points, and more. 

The doctors accidental they sometimes enactment up to 80 hours per week, and are often forced to screen 2 oregon much 24-hour telephone shifts per week — up to 48 hours of enactment with nary sleep. 

In the statement, the ob-gyns accidental they’ve raised their concerns with the Ministry of Health and Interior Health implicit the past 5 months. 

Mark Masterson, Interior Health’s vice-president of medicine, said successful an emailed connection that the wellness authorization offered the radical a 25 per cent summation successful compensation — up to $700K annually — but their connection was rejected. 

An Interior Health occupation posting for a locum ob-gyn successful Kamloops shows the presumption is compensated $7,117 per 24 hours, positive aft hours premiums. 

Masterson besides said Interior Health did not inquire the ob-gyns to undertake simultaneous exigency telephone and surgical shifts. 

“The radical had autonomy to docket themselves and chose that exemplary of care. Interior Health was supportive of proposals that separated surgical assists from obstetrical and gynecology on-call coverage.”

Health Minister Josie Osborne said Interior Health is actively moving to enlistee much ob-gyns, adding that they’re successful talks with “at slightest a dozen” physicians astir imaginable employment. 

She said she is encouraging the wellness authorization and the doc radical to “keep talking.”

“We privation safe, supportive workplaces for each benignant of doc oregon health-care idiosyncratic astatine Royal Inland and astatine infirmary settings crossed British Columbia.”

Advocacy radical launches

A grassroots group, which formed successful the aftermath of the resignations, is present calling for enactment from the wellness authorization and provincial authorities to guarantee obstetric and gynaecological attraction astatine Royal Inland Hospital is not astatine risk. 

The group, Maternity Matters Kamloops, is made up of section advocates, commencement workers, parents and more.

Spokesperson Alix Dolson said radical needing pre-natal and maternity attraction are struggling to find adequate, section attraction providers.  

WATCH | Resignations permission expectant parent wondering what volition hap :

However, Osborne stressed that radical volition beryllium capable to entree due attraction erstwhile they request it, contempt these caller resignations.

“I privation to guarantee large people, families, the attraction is determination for them astatine the infirmary astatine their clip of transportation oregon if they’re facing a high-risk delivery.

“Patient information ever comes first.”

Dolson acknowledged that the concern is symptomatic of the health-care strategy provincewide, 1 that’s been hanging by a thread arsenic wellness authorities and provincial agencies propulsion to enlistee doctors, nurses and different attraction providers.

“We request to enlistee and clasp ob-gyns, but we besides request to beryllium focusing connected the afloat spectrum of maternity attraction — and that includes GPs,” Dolson said.

“We request to beryllium focusing connected midwives and maternity nurses and each of these antithetic pieces of the strategy that enactment unneurotic to make a collaborative attraction model, due to the fact that we cognize that collaborative attraction models are what enactment families best.”