Local midwifery clinics, Interior Health discussing solutions with impending TRFO closure

KAMLOOPS — It’s a problem that has been occurring for over a year. The Thompson Region of Family Obstetrics clinic’s impending closure this summer has sparked concern for countless residents within the region.

Joanna Norman, who is the founder of Mighty Oak Midwifery Care says a closure is extremely stressful for mothers who need care within the region.

“We’re going to send them where? To Kelowna? To Vancouver? Are those services going to have the capacity to take on those people?” asked Norman. “We’re just shifting our problem from here to another place. That’s one of the things I think the province needs to pay attention to. This problem isn’t going away.”

Meanwhile at Royal Inland Hospital, Gerry Desilets, who is the director of clinical operations, says a lack of physician coverage is one of the reasons behind the impending closure. Desilets mentions that discussions are being held with Interior Health to find a solution.

“We meet weekly to look at solutions and try to find ways through this,” Desilets told CFJC Today in an interview. “The biggest impact right now is the lack of physician coverage and not being able to cover all their shifts.”

Norman believes maternity care deserves a larger share of healthcare funding and is calling on the B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix to step up to the plate.

“Pregnancy and birth is the beginning of a family and family is the beginning of a community,” said Norman. “If you are taking care of a community, what better opportunity is there to invest in preventative, proactive health? I don’t know how much plainer to put that. Healthcare dollars need to come into this issue.”

CFJC News reached out to Health Minister Adrian Dix for an interview, but was unable to conduct one. Dix left a statement in regards to the impending closure, saying he “recognizes that the TRFO clinic is critical not just to Kamloops, but the surrounding area” and that the “Ministry of Health is committed to finding a temporary solution in the interim to avoid further disruption.”