Interior Health CEO speaks out for 1st time since Kelowna pediatric unit closure [Video]

The CEO of Interior Health is speaking out for the first time since the closure of the pediatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital.

“I’m hearing extreme frustration, so our job is to unpack that, understand what it is and get it sorted,” CEO Susan Brown told Global News.

Conservative MLA for Kelowna Centre, Kristina Loewen, said the situation is a crisis.

“I think it’s a failure to plan as well, failure to recruit doctors. I think it’s been years in the making,” she said.

“I’m outraged, you know the warning signs were all there.”

The concerns are being echoed across the region by parents, doctors and municipal leaders.

There are about 20 pediatricians working in the Kelowna area, however, only six work at the hospital as numerous resigned in the last year, citing burnout and difficult working conditions among the reasons.

“I wouldn’t say we cannot keep people working at the hospital,” Brown said.

“In this …