Crowd gathers in Kamloops to call for ophthalmologist hire; RIH chief of staff comments

KAMLOOPS — Concerned residents gathered on Wednesday (July 31) at a press conference in downtown Kamloops to implore Health Minister Adrian Dix and the Interior Health Authority (IHA) to open a general ophthalmologist position in the Thompson Shuswap Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area.

Dr. Peter Jelfimow said his Kamloops ophthalmology clinic had more than 14,000 patient visits in 2023 and he is concerned about continuity of care when he retires later this month.

“Personally and not just because I am a senior now, but I feel it’s a slap in the face,” said longtime nurse Marie Ann Zwingli, who was among worried members of the crowd. “To be ignored like this, I feel like they’re targeting a very vulnerable population.”

The press conference was called by BC United Kamloops area MLAs Todd Stone and Peter Milobar, who are preparing for a provincial election in October and took the opportunity to take aim at Dix.

They said Dix has the power to direct Interior Health to hire an ophthalmologist, noting the Kamloops region is significantly underserved in comparison with the Okanagan Valley.

Jelfimow told CFJC Today in May the provincial average for B.C. is about 3.8 ophthalmologists per 100,000 individuals, citing the Canadian Medical Association Ophthalmology Profile.

Stone said the Okanagan Valley has access to 18 ophthalmologists, including 10 in Kelowna, four in Summerland and four in Armstrong.

The Thompson Shuswap Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area has a catchment population of about 250,000 and stretches north to Williams Lake.

Stone said two general ophthalmologists will be left to care for that population if another position is not opened when Jelfimow retires.

“It seems to be an attitude of if someone retires or a service gets dropped off, well the solution is just to send everyone to Kelowna – and that’s not good enough,” Milobar said. “But that seems to be the attitude we get time and time again out of IHA.”

Several of those who spoke to CFJC Today pointed out glaring danger involved with dispatching folks who have vision issues on long drives across the Okanagan to seek eye care.

CFJC Today reached out for comment from the Ministry of Health and Interior Health.

The Ministry of Health said Interior Health is better positioned to respond.

Royal Inland Hospital Chief of Staff Dr. Elizabeth Parfitt said she can understand why patients are concerned about losing excellent essential care provided by Dr. Jelfimow.

“Having said that, we have met with the other ophthalmologists in town, as well as with Dr. Jelfimow, and we’ve looked at the data in terms of waitlists and cataract surgery wait times and, at the current time, the perspective is we are able to accommodate all of Dr. Jelfimow’s patients who need transfer of care locally, meaning we don’t anticipate anyone needs to receive care outside our community if they’ve been receiving care in our community previously,” Parfitt said.

(Below is the complete interview with RIH Chief of Staff Dr. Elizabeth Parfitt)

.Stone said he met on Tuesday (July 30) with the other ophthalmologists in Kamloops and they expressed support for the hiring of at least one more ophthalmologist in the area.

“I’m not sure what all the communication is in the background,” Parfitt said. “My understanding at this time is we do not feel we need to open a position. That may be different in three months’ time. It may also change depending on who we want to hire and what services we want to bring to the community. I can only comment on the hospital-based services.”

Jelfimow had his own replacement identified as of May, but said IHA was not willing to open a position and he is no longer certain if that potential replacement is still willing to make the move.

“We might want to look at recruiting physicians into the community that bring additional expertise so we can bring new services into the community,” Parfitt said. “The ophthalmologist we hired in the fall brought some new skills to our community. That would be a good example.”

Jelfimow said last fall IHA identified a need for three general ophthalmologists in the area and hired one to meet that need.

“IHA, in their dealings with me, indicated they feel the new ophthalmologist, the pediatric-focused one, has capacity in her practice to absorb all of my patients, which is really quite improbable,” Jelfimow said.

“If I provide that ophthalmologist with 70 patients per day, mostly elderly patients, the question arises – what happens to the pediatric patients in this town?”

Parfitt said the situation will be closely monitored and noted there is a transition plan in place for Dr. Jelfimow’s patients.

“Numbers are always difficult to fully interpret,” she said. “There is a difference between hospital-based services and the community. Someone can come in and set up a practice in the general community independent of the hospital. That’s always available to physicians, but at the current time at this hospital, we’re not opening a position. But that will be monitored very closely as Dr. Jelfimow retires and that may change over time.”