Health Ministry downplays BC Children's Hospital quietly activating Emergency Operations Centre

B.C. Children’s Hospital has quietly activated an Emergency Operations Centre amid high patient volumes, and is asking beleaguered staff to do even more as they expect a surge of young patients in the coming days. 

The hospital’s chief operating officer sent a memo on the situation to all staff Wednesday afternoon, but neither the public nor patients were notified that administrators felt the move was necessary as they are “actively preparing to manage an anticipated surge while continuing to provide our most vital services.”

COO Sarah Bell wrote that while they “continue to face the challenge of balancing staffing levels amidst unprecedented volumes,” administrators are so concerned with the strain on pediatric units across the country and around the world, they are establishing an Emergency Operations Centre and "may call on (staff) to show up in a different way, leaning in where emerging needs are greatest." 

CTV News asked to speak with a senior administrator about the exceptional measure and what patients and parents should expect.

In response, a communications staffer for the hospital sent brief email asking who else was being interviewed for this story, suggesting the agency is more focussed on the optics and public perception of the facility than explaining whether the level of care would change. 

MINISTER IN THE HOT SEAT

Early Thursday afternoon, a Vancouver Coastal Health dashboard with hospital wait times showed a wait of nearly four hours to see a doctor at the children’s hospital, but on the weekend, parents confirmed the posted wait of more than 10 hours was accurate. 

The leader of the B.C. Green Party raised the memo with the health minister, demanding to know how he expected exhausted staff to do more, and pointing out pediatric surgeries are already being cancelled.

“Nothing is worse for a parent than when you need care for you child and it’s not there,” said Sonia Furstenau in the legislature.

“What does (the minister) say to the people who can’t get care for themselves, for their elders, and for their children in the health-care system right now?

The minister did not deny the surgical delays and tried to downplay the emergency management response as proactive. 

“The member is correct, we are preparing for that season as everyone would expect we would. We did that in 2021. We did that in 2020,” said Adrian Dix. “This was announced and presented to the people of B.C. two months ago to demonstrate that that preparation is happening, to prepare every health-care facility for what is expected to be … a more challenging flu and COVID-19 season.” 

Dix had announced hospital patients would be ejected, most of them elderly, but did not discuss any measures for pediatric facilities. 

HOW ARE KIDS FARING IN BC?

Sources tell CTV News that the hospital is not only seeing a larger volume of sick kids than usual, the patients are sicker and requiring more serious medical intervention as a result.

In Ontario, hospitals are grappling with similar issues and are now resorting to sending teens to adult hospitals to preserve pediatric facilities for younger children.

In B.C., there is no indication such drastic measures are necessary yet, but activating an emergency operations centre is an exceptional practice: It’s not a physical setup, but essentially serves as an internal alert level that requires and enables managers and administrators to respond to changing conditions faster. 

“When an EOC gets activated at one of our hospitals, it is common and courteous practice to let staff know so they can be active participants in patient-focused solutions,” said Dr. Jana Davidson, Chief Medical Officer of BC Children’s and BC Women’s hospitals in an email.

“Knowing, based on past experience and trends already experienced in the southern hemisphere, that respiratory season can put additional pressure on the health-care system, activating an EOC at BC Children’s Hospital is good practice.”

She did not address the current waits, record-setting patient volumes, or the long waits that have become increasingly common at the facility.