Concerns raised by surgeons at another Fraser Health hospital highlight problems already all too clear in Delta, says MLA Vicki Huntington.
The Delta South independent talked Wednesday about an open letter to the health authority from surgeons at Burnaby Hospital, saying it demonstrates a level of dysfunction in Fraser Health.
"We have a situation where people are not being equitably served by Fraser Health," said Huntington, pointing to similar concerns recently raised by Delta Hospital doctors. "When two different groups of physicians are imploring the same health authority to provide equitable funding to their hospital, it's a pretty clear signal that change needs to happen."
This week, 18 Burnaby Hospital surgeons signed a letter to Dr. Peter Blair, the FHA's medical director of surgery, stating say they have "lost confidence with the management of FHA surgical services" and believe the hospital and its patients would be better served under a different health authority.
"This dispute mirrors what we've seen in Delta," said Huntington. "The operating facilities are there, but we're lacking the resources to use them effectively."
This fall, the Delta Hospital Medical Staff Association made public a myriad of problems patients face if they come for urgent surgical procedures, ones they wouldn't have if they went to any other hospital in the region.
The doctors described the situation as "a crisis" and that the surgical program is in "imminent danger of imploding" because operating rooms aren't available for emergency surgeries 24 hours a day like at other hospitals.
In Delta, operating rooms close at 3 p.m., which means those who require urgent procedures have to be transferred to another hospital.
Friends of Delta Hospital, a recently formed citizens' group, this week made public another recent case of someone experiencing a delay in care after arriving at Delta Hospital.
Barbara Weinberger, 47, had been experiencing abdominal pain for a couple of days before going to Delta Hospital on Nov. 25, hearing how the ER wasn't as congested as other hospitals, especially her own in Surrey.
She told the Optimist that after being examined and finding out the problem was with her appendix, she couldn't have the surgery done at the hospital because its operating rooms were closed for the day. After waiting several hours, staff at Delta Hospital were finally able to find her an operating room at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. She had to wait several more hours there, during which time her appendix burst.
"I went to Delta at around 3:30 in the afternoon and I'm sure it was after midnight when I got the OK from Royal Columbian. Had I known Delta doesn't operate after 3 p.m, I would have went somewhere else because it was pretty bad," said Weinberger.
"I was under the assumption they could do it right away at Royal Columbian, but I had to wait until 8:05 a.m. the next morning. By then my appendix decided to rupture and my surgeon said it was nasty."
Nicholas Wong of Friends of Delta Hospital said the group would continue to advocate for more funding and the restoration of the surgical program.
"In an overtaxed system, it's criminal we're not utilizing the facilities that we have at Delta Hospital," he said.
