Rob Gibson - Sep 2, 2021
Photo: Rob Gibson
A healthcare worker watches a protest unfold outside KGH
A group of Kelowna General Hospital healthcare workers have reached out to Castanet to let the community know how upsetting they found Wednesday's protest outside the hospital.
"We don't even have words," said nurse Bruce MacKay.
He and many fellow healthcare workers at KGH considered some type of counter-protest, "but when I saw the chaos and directionlessness of the protest, I realized, oh my goodness what's the point."
Instead, Mackay and eight of his colleagues walked out the front doors linked arms and turned their backs on the protesters, who gathered in opposition to B.C.'s vaccine passport program set to launch on Sept. 13.
"We were talking about it at shift change, I just feel like that if we do nothing... Sometimes people say silence is complicit, but I didn't want to engage in a conversation."
"I was standing arms linked with my outstanding work cohorts. Turning our backs was representative of no longer wanting to listen to and work against the cacophony of disinformation."
Several other healthcare workers who spoke with Castanet, who were on-shift and unable to speak on the record, shared similar sentiments. One intensive care unit doctor walked outside and called the protest "B.S."
While watching the protest, a pharmacy technician at KGH called the situation "crazy."
"I mean I want to stop wearing a mask, but when it’s like this I don’t know. We have some COVID patients at the hospital, I just don’t get this," said the employee, who Castanet has granted anonymity to.
"We went back inside in tears," Mackay said.
Gareth Eeson, surgical oncologist, tweeted that he has "never been so disappointed in my community."
Dr. Michael Hopman, a family physician in Kelowna, called Castanet while the protest was taking place. His wife has scheduled cancer surgery and is afraid it may get cancelled because the hospital is overloaded, in part with COVID-19 patients.
"I'm all for choice, but it just seems so crazy right now... people are choosing a hard line. People are screaming out freedom. This isn't a Mel Gibson movie. This isn't Braveheart. This is real life."
"We have a choice yes, but we have a responsibility as people to make a concerted effort to help protect each other and be citizens. As a physician, I don't get it," Dr. Hopman said.
"We're here to help people," Mackay said, pointing to past vaccine successes. "Rheumatic fever, rubella, measles killed people for years, they came up with a vaccine, it was needless to die from that."
Mackay says he respects everyone's right to peaceful protest and he even understands vaccine hesitancy but he points out, "we're here to help people. We're not the frontline, you are."
Dr. Hopman's viewpoint is slightly more pessimistic, "in my professional opinion, there's a way out of this. It's called time, and death and chaos, confusion and a lot of frustration."
Kelowna's mayor and local members of Parliament and the Legislature all issued statements condemning the location of the protest outside the hospital. Similar protests took place across Canada, including in Kamloops.
The protest was organized by a group called "Canadian Frontline Nurses," a group of a handful of out-of-province healthcare workers who have been travelling the continent for several months spreading anti-vaccine messages and conspiracy theories related to the pandemic.
After huge protest at hospital, Kelowna,
B.C. woman calls for rally in support of
health workers
By Kathy Michaels Global News
Updated September 3, 2021 
The mayor of Kelowna says a protest in front of Kelowna General Hospital on Wednesday afternoon was misguided.
Health workers who faced jeers and harassment at rallies for “health freedoms” Wednesday deserve better, a Kelowna woman says.
“I’ve heard from a lot of them since yesterday who said the protest was pretty demoralizing,” former city councillor Michele Rule said.
READ MORE: Anti-vaccine mandate protest at Kelowna hospital draws massive crowd
“Just 18 months ago, we were cheering every night with pots and pans and doing drive-bys at the hospital every week, but it faded.
“That’s our fault. We acted like it was over, but they still had the work to do.”
The protest outside Kelowna General Hospital and other Canadian hospitals were organized by Canadian Frontline Nurses, a group founded by two Ontario nurses. It pushes messaging from which most healthcare professionals have distanced themselves.
They urged supporters to “stand up for freedom” and “reject the tyranny of mandatory vaccines.”
All that happened during the nation-wide protests makes now the right time to restart regular acts of appreciation, Rule said, to remind workers that she and the vast majority of British Columbians still appreciate the work they’ve done.
She put out a call for those who are interested to drive by Kelowna General Hospital at around 7 p.m. and show their support. She has no idea how many people will come, but she’s had some positive feedback so far.
People plan to drive by, hang signs of support and maybe even dangle a few balloons, just so hospital workers know they’re valued.
“Some people may walk, but they will maintain proper distances and everyone will wear a mask because want to maintain safety rules,” she said.
“Some people can’t go, so they will bang pots and pans. Everyone is welcome to do that — the more the merrier.”
READ MORE: Hockey Manitoba rep shares thoughts on new vaccine mandates in sports
Ultimately, the aim is to wash away some of the negativity that set in Wednesday with the protest.
“That was in an inappropriate place, really inappropriate, and I thought, ‘This is something we have to do,’” she said.
“I don’t know how busy it will be. It will be busy enough. We don’t want to clog roads, or impede traffic or anything like that.”
Global News spoke to several health-care workers at the hospital on Wednesday, who said they respect the right to protest, but demonstrating in front of a hospital was simply the wrong place to gather.
“View from the (operating room) today. The same (operating room) that is running at <60% capacity for the 3rd week in a row due to an overwhelming # of COVID+ unvaxxed hospitalizations. I’ve never been so disappointed in my community,” Gareth Eeson, a surgical oncologist at the hospital, tweeted.
While the negativity took its toll, local politicians were quick to voice their support for health workers and condemnation of protesters.
“The caring people who work in this hospital have been run off their feet,” Dan Albas, MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, said in a tweet.
“It is well known the COVID ward is beyond capacity. The people who work in health care during this pandemic deserve our gratitude and support. This protest should have been held elsewhere.”
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran also spoke out.
“I think it’s really disgusting that you have health-care workers who are under tremendous stress, keeping people alive, particularly the unvaccinated who’ve now gotten sick,” said Basran.
“And to go and protest and put further stress on them, I think is so misguided and irresponsible.”
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