B.C. health care crisis: No doctors available for hospitalized patients
“CTV News has obtained a copy of the document, which tells patients at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital that while an emergency room physician determined they needed to be there, “you are admitted to hospital but without a physician overseeing your ongoing care.”
The letter, which is not on letterhead and written by staff, provides contact information for senior leaders at the Island Health Authority and the leaders, explaining that hospitalists on shift were overwhelmed.
"You will not have a most responsible physician assigned to you until their capacity as a service permits this,” it says.”
The founder of British Columbia’s most high-profile patient advocacy group called the situation scary and alarming.
“We can easily have that perception 'once I'm in the hospital I'll be safe, I'll be protected,' but what this letter is telling us is that's not what’s happening,” said Camille Currie. “The impact on patients is monstrous.”