'Horrible' holiday odyssey highlights lack of surgeons in Fort St. John, B.C.
Bid for surgery in northern B.C. was an 'ordeal,' says Lawrence Ravanello
Pain hit Lawrence Ravanello on Dec. 23, so his family loaded him in the car and headed to the hospital in Fort St. John in northeastern B.C. They thought he was having a heart attack.
Ravanello, 46, lives on a farm about a 30-minute drive east of Fort. St. John.
It turned out that his infected appendix needed removal, but no surgeons were available in Fort St. John, so he had to be flown south to Prince George for surgery.
Small town B.C. has a doctor shortage, health authorities say, and no surgeon is even on call in Fort St. John between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4, 2017
Health officials concede they struggle to find surgeons in remote areas over the holidays — any time of the year.
As a result, Ravanello was forced on a harrowing medical odyssey and barely made it home for Christmas.
"It was a horrible ordeal ... there's nobody on call," Ravanello said. "There's tens of thousands of people here."
Surgeons all on holiday at once
The Northern Health region is the size of France, serving 350,000 people with too few doctors.
The Northern Health Authority conceded it's difficult to find a surgeon in this region between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4.
"There are times when on-call surgeon coverage is not available," said Andrea Palmer, a spokeswoman for Northern Health in a statement to CBC.
"Christmas and New Year's are particularly challenging holiday times to obtain coverage."
Palmer said the health authority works with BC Ambulance to ensure that patients are transferred to appropriate hospitals when needed. She added that the authority is trying to recruit surgeons to fill vacancies.
And she can't promise this does not happen at other times during the year.
Ravanello said the doctor shortage nearly ruined his Christmas.
"If a surgeon was on duty in Fort St. John I could have had surgery and recovered safely with the presence of my kids," said Ravanello.
His two kids had come to visit him for the holidays. His daughter lives in Grande Prairie, Alta. with her mother and his son lives in Hudson's Hope, about 87 kilometres west of Fort St. John.
Instead, after his surgery in Prince George, he made his own way back home, frantic to be with his son and daughter on Dec. 25.
He made it, but looking back he realizes — over and above the $338 in flight and taxi costs — he risked his life to do it.
The odyssey
The night the pain started, the family of four bundled into the car and drove to Fort St. John.
His daughter, Emily Ravanello, 13, sat in the back as her mom drove.
"I was scared because I thought he wouldn't make it. He was having trouble breathing," said Emily. Her mother kept Ravanello talking to keep him conscious.
On the way, the family called 911 and an ambulance was dispatched, but it passed them on the highway.
When the family and the ambulance finally connected, and Ravanello was loaded inside, the family thought he'd get help. But it wasn't that simple.
In Fort St. John, there were no surgeons available.
So Ravanello was airlifted to Prince George, where he had an operation Christmas Eve, around 3:30 p.m. PT.
After a restless night on morphine he insisted the hospital release him at 4:30 a.m. PT on Christmas Day.
A friend had booked him a WestJet flight last minute.
He was frantic to get home. He had not done his Christmas shopping. And he was not thinking straight.
"They did say it was not wise and I'd have to sign a form," said Ravanello.
He recalls having "a hard time" finding his way out of the hospital.
"I just wanted to get back to my family for Christmas."
Nobody escorted Ravanello, still on painkillers, as he tried to get outside to find a taxi. Once outside, the hospital door shut and locked behind him.
He waited for a cab for more than an hour, wearing sandals.
He passed out at the airport, but finally boarded at 7 a.m. PT flight.
Then he flew to Vancouver, waited another hour, and flew home to Fort St. John.
He got home — stapled together, full of morphine and worse for wear — around 11 a.m. PT on Christmas Day.
Ravanello wants to know why there were no surgeons available in Fort St. John, so he could have recovered near his home, and not risked all to get back to his tree, turkey and children.
Lack of doctors in rural B.C. endemic
The lack of surgeons in Fort St. John B.C. has been a concern for years.
In the 2014-1015 fiscal year, the B.C. Ministry of Health reported there were 242 general surgeons practicing in the province.
Some communities have become so desperate for medical staff they've begun recruiting.
Scotch Creek B.C. offered a $5,000 reward to find a doctor to work in the small interior town, even putting up wanted posters.
