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An urgent care clinic for children at Victoria General Hospital will shut on Sept. 1 for an unspecified period, with the local health authority citing heavy workload, physician burnout, and problems with retention.
Island Health said in a statement on Thursday that consultations usually performed by the Urgent Pediatric Assessment Clinic would instead be handled by the emergency department.
It said the clinic stopped accepting new referrals on Aug. 15.
A statement Island Health attributed to the hospital’s pediatricians said they had to provide notice of the closure to divert staff “to providing more emergent care.”
The pediatricians were quoted as saying they hoped the clinic would reopen and offer a more expanded service in the near future.
It’s the latest service closure in British Columbia hospitals, which have included the shutdown of Kelowna General Hospital’s dedicated pediatric unit between May and July.
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Island Health said it “has been working collaboratively with the pediatrics group to address workload and compensation concerns.”
“The pediatrics group is facing increased demand for services as volume and complexity have grown over the past several years — creating workload challenges, physician burnout and retention issues,” it said.
Opposition health critic Anna Kindy, who is a physician, said that with the indefinite closure of the clinic, “an already-overburdened ER physician will have to triage and diagnose” child patients.
Kindy said contract negotiations should be done before medical service cancellations.
“Health-care access in British Columbia continues to be compromised. And now, the children and parents of the South Island and beyond will face hindered access to timely, specialized pediatric care.”
The provincial Health Ministry referred questions to Island Health.
Island Health said it was “determined” to work with the doctors to get the clinic reopened as soon as possible.
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