iN NUMBERS: British Columbia’s health-care worker shortage

Doctor shortages have been making headlines around the province, especially in Kelowna with the recent KGH pediatric ward closure and at Kamloops’ Royal Inland Hospital’s maternity ward which has been struggling. The numbers show that B.C. is hiring more doctors, but there’s still a long way to go. Here are the numbers: 1,400: American health-care workers have applied to work in B.C. since May. 140: U.S. doctors, nurses and other health care professionals have taken jobs here. 3: Pediatricians joined the Kelowna General Hospital team on Aug. 15 and two more associate physicians started work this month. 1,196: Job listings on the Interior Health website. https://jobs.interiorhealth.ca/JobSearch/s-/0-0-0-10-0-false-0-5?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23014064057&gbraid=0AAAAAC6PPKrzwrjqsTyz1m9SzrSWo3ibr&gclid=CjwKCAjwisnGBhAXEiwA0zEOR-ffsIthbxDL5cJSSdskWya7d_At7XD2-Rf2Ch5CtHLzVqmvSqzMZhoChTcQAvD_BwE 222: Interior Health listings are for permanent full time positions. 53.22: Dollars an hour is the average travel nurse wage in B.C., according to Indeed.com. 42.59: Dollars an hour is the average nurse's wage in B.C., according to Indeed.com. https://ca.indeed.com/career/nurse/salaries/British-Columbia?from=top_sb 16,000: Fewer people worked in health care and social assistance in B.C. in August compared to May. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410035501&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.11&pickMembers%5B1%5D=3.1&pickMembers%5B2%5D=4.1&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=04&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2025&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=08&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2025&referencePeriods=20250401%2C20250801 1,000: New family doctors in B.C., roughly, since the province changed the payment model in 2023. To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. Find our Journalism Ethics policy here. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/code-of-ethics/it106782 We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .