A Kelowna, B.C., mother of a young girl living with a rare and terminal genetic condition is stepping forward with her concerns over the closure of the pediatric ward at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).
“Scary,” said Susan Peters. “It’s scary.”
Peters’ three-and-a half-year old daughter Raven requires a lot of medical attention, so the pediatric ward closure at KGH, now in its fourth week, has caused a lot of anxiety for the family.
“We never really expect a closure of a hospital (ward) in such a such a large community,” Peters said. “We’re very concerned about if Raven ever has to go in for any sort of care, what’s going to happen?”
In November, the little girl spent nine days in the pediatric unit after coming down with bad case of RSV.
It’s the kind of hospital admission that Peters said could be required again at any time.
“At any moment, you know, she could … choke on secretions. She could develop another cough situation that could turn into RSV, so we would have to bring her in for … immediate attention,” Peters told Global News.
The concerns have been echoed by doctors themselves, who have long been calling on Interior Health (IH) to bolster pediatric staff and services to support an increasing number of pediatric patients in a growing community.
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“It’s a realization of our worst nightmare, truthfully, that all the things we advocated for for so many years didn’t happen,” said pediatrician Dr. Kate Runkle.
Those unsuccessful calls for changes resulted in many physician resignations over the last couple of years, due to what doctors have called difficult working conditions.
Those resignations ultimately led to the pediatric ward closure.
IH has said it was a difficult but necessary decision in order to protect critical pediatric services such as high-risk deliveries.
It’s a service disruption that Runkle said is especially concerning for children like Raven.
“I worry that they’re very fragile,” Runkle said. “To stay in an emergency department may expose them to increased risk of infection, so there’s a lot of worries, I think, for complex patients in our community.”
BC’s health minister told Global News Wednesday she takes the doctors’ concerns very seriously and is closely monitoring the situation at KGH.
“I am confident that the discussions that are starting to take place are proceeding in a way that gives me some confidence that perspectives are being heard and I look forward to hearing more from Interior Health,” said Josie Osborne.
Peters is also hoping to learn from IH as to how and why those pleas for changes kept falling on deaf ears.
“The doctors are the ones that are at the forefront. The doctors are the ones that are doing all this, Peters said. “I’m wondering why it took so long for them to listen.”
IH has said the closure may last beyond the initial six weeks that was announced and has not said when it may re-open.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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