Surrey Memorial Hospital ER doctors issue scathing open letter, cite ‘unsafe conditions’

Emergency physicians at Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH) released a scathing letter Monday describing what they’re calling a “crisis” at the facility.

Released in response to the Doctors of BC Section of Emergency Medicine news last week, the physicians, who have not included their names, say they are “compelled to inform the public of the unsafe conditions that have come to exist in our hospital, and what has been told to the community is incomplete.”

The group says the province’s minister of health, Adrian Dix, is “correct” in his characterization that health conditions in the province are challenging, but they say an important point is missing — “patients are dying preventable deaths at SMH.”

The letter outlines three issues that they say are contributing to preventable fatalities. They assert that the Fraser Health Authority has a “dire shortage” of hospitalist physicians, explaining that due to this, patients are left waiting for a doctor to see them. “Some patients have died while waiting. We believe that some of these deaths were preventable.”

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The group says the health authority also has a “disturbing shortage of acute care beds” which in turn is leading to busy and congested emergency rooms.” The group adds because of this shortage, “we are
routinely forced to treat strokes, heart attacks, traumas, miscarriages, and palliative patients in the hallway.

“We care for vulnerable elderly patients in hallways and waiting rooms, sometimes for days, as they become more confused and are forced to endure their illness without privacy or comfort,” the letter said.

Despite the province’s quest to make the health care system more efficient and address the gaps in care, by incentivizing more general practitioners, and signing a new funding agreement with the federal government, the physicians say that elected leaders have failed to provide “meaningful solutions” that change the reality for physicians and patients.

“ED congestion in SMH has been steadily worsening for years. The Hospitalist shortage was anticipated as early as 2022. We have been repeatedly sounding the alarm to our regional and provincial leaders. Additionally, these conditions have been poorly and incompletely communicated to the public, and we feel that patients and the public deserve honesty.”

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The physicians also claim that Fraser Health has told ER physicians to not openly discuss the problems they face with the public.

The letter states that the shortcomings the hospital is experiencing are “predictable.” The physicians say that patients are receiving substandard care, “suffering in hallways, and dying preventable deaths.”

“We encourage our patients and our community to ask thoughtful questions of our local, regional, and provincial leaders who are ultimately responsible for a failing system. We are asking for transparency and accountability from our elected leaders. Your Surrey Emergency Physicians stand with you and our patients, who deserve no less than reliable access to safe, compassionate, and dignified care,” the physicians said.

CityNews has reached out to the Fraser Health Authority and the province for comment.

–With files from Angela Bower and Michael Williams