Why I Hate IHA - Part 2

As I've stated before, my beef with IHA is not entirely related to the people of IHA, especially those who are working so very hard to deliver the best health care they can within the guidelines set out for them to follow. My beef revolves around the protocol-laden system.

Let's start with the name. Interior Health Authority. The word 'authority' is intimidating in that it implies that health care services are being controlled by an authoritative body. They are the boss, and don't try to mess with them as they will do whatever it takes to get even as they ultimately make the rules.

When I started speaking out about IHA and the system they follow when my mother ended up as a piece of cargo in the system the best IHA could do for me was drop their advertising in my small-town, independent weekly newspaper. It was a game of 'take away' that is typically the same method used in a bad divorce - taking away something of value. When questioned, IHA told me they had reassessed their marketing strategy. After I found IHA advertising in other newspapers in the region and not mine it was clear that the reassessment was to drop my paper from their list. Only since the reduced hours at our local hospital became a regular situation have I seen any advertising from IHA - and it's from the local facility, not from their main Kelowna office. I suspect I'm still on their 'do not advertise' list. By the way, not receiving advertising from the Kelowna source allows me to speak out, so I am.

The IHA system is flawed in many ways. On one occasion when my mother was admitted to Kelowna General Hospital for treatment for dehydration, protocol dictated that she was to be there no more than four days. I guess on the surface that sounds about right, but after four days my mother was far from well enough to return to her 'first available bed' placement in Rutland. Not faulting the medical professionals, they tried hard to move her out as they were being pressured from above for that bed. IHA uses hospital beds in much the same way restaurants 'rotate tables' in that the quicker you serve a customer, the quicker they eat and if you keep going to their table and prod them gently, they will finish up quickly and you can get a new customer at that table to generate more income. IHA is all about the money and flipping beds quickly achieves this.

Lucky for us we had help from those in the ward mom was in who did just about everything to keep her there longer. I won't reveal some of the tricks they used, but I will say staff made it clear to us (my brother and I) on more than one occasion that they were stepping out of bounds, putting their jobs on the line and assisted us as they all agreed there was something seriously wrong with the protocols in place for mom's treatment. Staff also referred to Interior Health as 'Inferior Health' and it makes you wonder that if the employees are fighting the system they are stuck with there must be something wrong with the system.

Again, I know our story is not unique, nor do I want you to think it is. What it is, is just one example of where the plan of centralizing health care services in rural British Columbia is failing, and failing big time.