Latest news with #SusanBrown
CTV News
8 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
Interior Health CEO is out over closure of Kelowna, B.C., pediatric unit
A treatment room in the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital is pictured in, Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press) KELOWNA — The head of British Columbia's Interior Health authority is stepping aside six months early over staff shortages that forced the closure of Kelowna General Hospital's dedicated pediatric unit. The authority says the end of president and CEO Susan Brown's tenure is among 'key actions' taken by the board of directors and other leaders to reopen the pediatric department as soon as possible. Interior Health also says in a statement Friday that four new doctors have signed on to the pediatric department, although it still lacks enough staff to safely reopen the unit, which has been shut since May 26. The health authority says Brown will now focus on supporting the organization ahead of her pending retirement that was announced last spring. Interior Health had said at the time that Brown would stay on as CEO until the end of this year. Chief financial officer Sylvia Weir has been named interim president and CEO. The closure of Kelowna's pediatric ward is part of ongoing hospital staffing shortages that have caused rolling closures of emergency rooms across B.C. The authority has said the closure could last until July 4. The Kelowna hospital 'remains equipped to support any children requiring emergency care although pediatric in-patients will not be admitted at this time,' the Interior Health statement on Friday said. 'In the meantime, we extend gratitude to the pediatricians providing on-call coverage to the emergency department and we thank everyone working at the emergency department for their efforts during this challenging time. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Interior Health CEO is out over closure of Kelowna, B.C., pediatric unit
KELOWNA — The head of British Columbia's Interior Health authority is stepping aside six months early over staff shortages that forced the closure of Kelowna General Hospital's dedicated pediatric unit. The authority says the end of president and CEO Susan Brown's tenure is among "key actions" taken by the board of directors and other leaders to reopen the pediatric department as soon as possible. Interior Health also says in a statement Friday that four new doctors have signed on to the pediatric department, although it still lacks enough staff to safely reopen the unit, which has been shut since May 26. The health authority says Brown will now focus on supporting the organization ahead of her pending retirement that was announced last spring. Interior Health had said at the time that Brown would stay on as CEO until the end of this year. Chief financial officer Sylvia Weir has been named interim president and CEO. The closure of Kelowna's pediatric ward is part of ongoing hospital staffing shortages that have caused rolling closures of emergency rooms across B.C. The authority has said the closure could last until July 4. The Kelowna hospital "remains equipped to support any children requiring emergency care although pediatric in-patients will not be admitted at this time," the Interior Health statement on Friday said. "In the meantime, we extend gratitude to the pediatricians providing on-call coverage to the emergency department and we thank everyone working at the emergency department for their efforts during this challenging time. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025. The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Vancouver Sun
14 hours ago
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Interior Health CEO steps down following closure of Kelowna's pediatric unit
Interior Health CEO Susan Brown has stepped down following the shutdown of the pediatric ward in May at Kelowna General Hospital because of a shortage of pediatricians. Brown is the second health authority CEO to leave this year after the sudden departure of Fraser Health president and CEO Dr. Victoria Lee. In a statement Friday, Interior Health said it remains committed to reopening the hospital's pediatric in-patient unit 'as soon as possible.' Sylvia Weir, the current chief financial officer and vice-president of corporate services has been appointed interim president and CEO. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Health officials said four new physicians have signed offers to join the department but at this time the hospital does not have enough pediatricians available to safely reopen the 10-bed in-patient unit. The decision was made without public notice from the either the Interior Health Authority or the Ministry of Health. Instead, Kelowna doctors broke the news on the eve of the pending closure. After that, Interior Health confirmed the unit would be out of service from May 26 until the first week of July or longer to preserve pediatric coverage for the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries. Interior Health said Friday the medical staff association and Doctors of B.C. have established a joint action committee to develop a solution to the staffing challenges, and said Brown is concluding her tenure ahead of her pending retirement. 'On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to Susan Brown for her unwavering commitment and service to Interior Health and the health and well-being of the communities we serve during the particularly challenging times of COVID-19 and a global health care worker shortage,' said Dr. Robert Halpenny, Interior Health board chair in a statement Friday. The statement said KGH remains equipped to support any children requiring emergency care although pediatric in-patients will not be admitted at this time. Some will be transferred elsewhere, including to B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver. ER Dr. Jeff Eppler told Postmedia last month that he never imagined a disruption of pediatric services of this magnitude and that 'it seems almost surreal.' ticrawford@ With files from Vaughn Palmer
CBC
14 hours ago
- Health
- CBC
Interior Health CEO steps down amid pediatric unit closure at Kelowna General Hospital
The CEO of Interior Health is stepping down amid an extended closure of the pediatric in-patient unit at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH), the regional health authority announced Friday. Service disruptions to the KGH's 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit were announced on May 24, with an extended closure of six weeks to begin May 26, due to doctor shortages. CEO Susan Brown had announced her plans to retire last spring, but will be leaving in advance of her pending retirement, Interior Health said in a news release. Her resignation is part of "several key actions" taken by the board of directors, the senior executive team and KGH medical leadership to reopen the pediatric unit as soon as possible, according to Interior Health. The health authority said it will continue to work with the medical staff association and Doctors of B.C. through an established joint action committee to address the staffing challenges and "stabilize services," and will appoint a third-party facilitator to make recommendations to the board. Interior Health said Sylvia Weir, the current chief financial officer and vice president of corporate services, will be stepping in as the interim president and CEO of the government agency.
Global News
21-06-2025
- Health
- Global News
Interior Health won't rule out pediatrics closure extension
What was supposed to be a six-week closure of the pediatric ward at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) will likely extend beyond that. 'The service interruption itself is really stressful for parents but the uncertainty is even more frustrating,' said Gavin Dew, Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission. With the closure of the 10-bed unit now in its fourth week, Interior Health (IH) is still unable to say when it will reopen. In a statement to Global News, IH CEO Susan Brown stated, 'Interior Health leadership is fully committed to restoring full services and the entire team at Kelowna General Hospital are committed to addressing the current challenges and reopening the unit as quickly as possible.' Brown went on to say that reopening will happen as soon as it is safe and feasible but stopped short of providing a more concrete timeline other than stating, 'to build towards reopening, one new pediatrician is starting this summer with two more joining in September.' Story continues below advertisement 3:18 Kelowna General Hospital pediatric unit's troubled history The ward closed on May 26 so that the few pediatricians left working at the hospital would be available to cover critical services, such as high-risk deliveries. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Since the ward's closure, 14 young patients have needed a hospital admission and had to be transferred to other hospitals. Five of those patients were transferred to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, nearly 170 km away. The other transfers involved hospitals in Vernon and Penticton. 'That's just not acceptable especially for how fast and big Kelowna is growing to not have that for people,' said Brent Watson, a Kelowna father of two young children. 'I just can't get my head wrapped around it.' Story continues below advertisement KGH doctors have gone public in recent weeks, claiming the current crisis is the result of an inadequate staffing model that often has one pediatrician on shift and makes it impossible to properly care for all the children needing their attention. However, they say the calls for change were ignored for years and prompted specialists to resign. Those resignations culminated in occasional service disruptions and now the lengthy pediatric ward closure. 'Now that they've started speaking out, they've started asking for better,' Dew said. 'I don't think this is going to stop until there's a really serious reset in the system.' That reset many doctors say has to in part involve dual pediatrician coverage 24/7. 2:01 Calls for Interior Health CEO to step down On Friday, Global News asked IH if it will commit to the change. Story continues below advertisement 'We have been moving to that split service delivery model for some time, with contracts, compensation and other solutions in place to support it, with the goal of having pediatricians assigned to both areas, one each at both the NICU and the pediatrics unit,' Brown stated. 'We remain committed to ensure all potential compensation strategies are in place to enable the additional capacity in the pediatrics unit and support a collaborative and sustainable model.' Brown is slated to retire in December. There have been calls from the BC Conservatives to fast-track the leadership transition in order for a new CEO to begin implementing long-term solutions to the crisis.
