Updates on KGH pediatrics unit and CEO leadership transition

Interior Health (IH) remains committed to reopening the Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) pediatric in-patient unit as soon as possible. We are pleased to announce four new physicians have signed offers to join the department. However, at this time, IH does not have the required number of pediatricians available to safely re-open the 10-bed inpatient unit. We continue to work towards resuming services and will provide timely updates to the community.

Several key actions have been taken by the board of directors, senior executive team and KGH medical leadership to reopen the department as soon as possible. These actions include:

• Continued collaboration with the medical staff association and Doctors of BC through an established joint action committee to develop a comprehensive plan to address the staffing challenges and stabilize services over the long term.
• Appointing a neutral, third-party facilitator as soon as possible to make recommendations to the IH board of directors on further actions to support strengthening pediatric services at KGH.
• Susan Brown is concluding her tenure as president & chief executive officer (CEO) and will now focus on supporting the organization in its transition in advance of her pending retirement, as announced last spring.
• Sylvia Weir, the current chief financial officer (CFO) and vice president of corporate services has been appointed interim president & CEO.

“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. “The board thanks Susan for her continued support to Interior Health and availability to advance the leadership transition plan as her successor is identified.”

Sylvia Weir has 25 years’ experience in health care, bringing experience both from the United Kingdom and Canada. As CFO and vice president, Sylvia led IH’s business support and accounting functions, manages contracted services and is responsible for capital planning and projects. Sylvia is known as a values-based leader and is committed to supporting the delivery of front-line clinical services and building strong relationships and community partnerships.

Efforts will continue to reopen KGH’s in-patient pediatric unit as soon as possible and we are committed to keeping the community updated as progress continue. KGH remains equipped to support any children requiring emergency care although pediatric in-patients will not be admitted at this time.

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.