It’s Time to Hire Back our Heroes

Healthcare in British Columbia has been a source of pride for many of us in the past. We used to have a system that ensured that everyone could get the care they needed and deserved. As a citizen or resident we had the privilege of going to our GP, getting referred to a specialist, or getting to an ER in the event of an emergency. To be sure, our system wasn’t perfect and there were cracks in the healthcare system already before 2020. But until recently, we had confidence that we, as British Columbians, would be taken care of. 

But that confidence has changed. In British Columbia our healthcare system is in crisis. ER after ER is experiencing closures due to staffing shortages. ^{1, 2}

One nurse at the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops has described the crisis as “our hospital is on fire”. But by speaking about the dire situation in her hospital she risks her career. In her anonymously written article published in CFJC Today, she outlines the RIH Standards of Conduct for Employees, which include that “(t)he conduct of IH (Interior Health) employees should instill confidence and trust and not bring IH into disrepute.” Complying with the standards of conduct is a condition of employment. Effectively our healthcare heroes are not only “literally, crying every shift for help” but they are being gagged from openly speaking about it.³ The staffing shortages in hospitals across BC are downplayed by their respective administrations, but according to this nurse and many others like her at hospitals across BC, it has led to a full-blown crisis. Indeed, she reveals that at her hospital there are approximately 60 vacant full-time lines (i.e. 60 speciality care RNs) and that the casual pools that usually would help replace vacant shifts are near depletion. She calls attention to the fact that in the ICU there was an advanced call-out for 406 vacant shifts between May 26 and June 25 alone, and as of the writing of her article only 10 had been taken. In addition, the Critical Care Unit (CCU) in the hospital has been closed for several months due to a lack of staff. Wards have been running at a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:7-8 where 1:4 is ideal. Often, she reports, those ratios become 1:10+. Nurses are often pulled from the ICU to assist elsewhere, causing ICU patients to be with inadequate care. She asks, “If that’s not a critical shortage, what is?”

The crisis at the RIH hospital in Kamloops is reflective of many BC hospitals. Indeed, similar critical staffing shortages are being felt throughout the province⁴. Not only is this unbearably stressful for our “frontline workers” in healthcare, but standards of care are slipping and the availability of the care that we, as British Columbians, have come to rely on is in peril.

It’s truly unfathomable that as of October 26, 2021 all hospital staff in BC were required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 ⁵, leading to the laying off of thousands of competent, eager-to-work, healthcare staff including nurses and doctors. The heroes of yesterday were suddenly the pariahs of today at the whim of an unelected health officer. 

The Provincial Health Officer has been asked repeatedly for proof that her public health order regarding a vaccine mandate is based on anything beyond political will. She repeatedly refuses to provide proof of any benefit in terms of reduction of transmission in a healthcare setting. As it becomes clear that the vaccines are much less efficacious than what had once been hoped for, and that both vaccinated and unvaccinated practitioners could theoretically transmit COVID to patients, the ongoing refusal to hire back our healthcare heroes becomes more and more bewildering. Indeed, tried, tested and well-established infection control protocols are, as ever, vitally important. And now we have additional tools like rapid COVID testing at our fingertips.

It is the patients who will ultimately unnecessarily suffer, and die, due to inept policies. It is time to finally Hire Back our Heroes. 

Please consider joining the movement and get your lawn sign at https://www.freedomtochoose.ca/hire-back-our-heroes/ 

1. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6470405?fbclid=IwAR0V-COFlhsla1TsiUpffXmPVeokNbUbJBxyZAibHmMLDxj4vgNbOxOu3_w
2. https://www.castanet.net/news/Kamloops/370285/Emergency-room-in-Clearwater-closed-through-Sunday-due-to-staffing-issues?fbclid=IwAR0Fq2U8NZx4BdBPBKWfvmff7PnWvr5eSh6XNebOv-P-PUr9dTiPQilWwcI#370285Nothing
3. https://cfjctoday.com/2022/05/24/sound-off-our-hospital-is-on-fire-a-kamloops-nurse-describes-the-origins-of-the-rih-staffing-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR1HtLgWvg7rOMmiM1jpabsXJCnRD0yiPxVd4x0DcNqVKe_oiLiiao6dNYU
4. https://www.missioncityrecord.com/news/mission-hospital-technicians-being-forced-to-relocate-due-to-staffing-shortage/?fbclid=IwAR3QXdXTQEnO-A3aI0wALw7svM6QcdEIzsyq5nHqoNWJnbDNjKfe4Kp80ys
5. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/covid-19/covid-19-hospital-and-community-vaccination-status-information-preventive-measures.pdf