A B.C. Ministry of Health photo shows the interior of the new Langley Emergency Department, which opened May 4, 2021. (Ministry file photo)

Dr. Mitra Maharaj, medical director at Langley Memorial Hospital, speaks to the doctor shortage and its impact on the local institution. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

An unexpected side-effect of a new contract for primary care doctors in B.C. has been increased delays in the already busy Langley Memorial Hospital emergency department – the result of fewer available physicians.

That’s according to Dr. Mitra Maharaj, site medical director at Langley Memorial Hospital (LMH), who was responding to reports that doctors at the Langley Division of Family Practice were being advised to direct patients to other hospitals, if at all possible.

Dr. Maharaj said it was an unexpected result of the new B.C. physician master agreement, approved in December, that improved pay and working conditions for family doctors, and prompted some hospitalists – doctors who work some or all the time in hospital – to move toward family practice.

It became a noticeable trend in April.

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Finding and keeping doctors “has been a problem for a long time, to a degree,” Maharaj explained, but now, it’s an even bigger challenge.

“We have faced significant human resources shortages,” he told the Langley Advance Times during a Monday, May 8, interview.

While he could not provide an exact estimate of the resulting increased wait times, Maharaj called them “significantly increased,” and “certainly not ideal.”

On Tuesday May 9, for example, he said LMH would normally expect to have eight hospitalists available, but will have to get by with seven.

Other hospitals, not just Langley, are experiencing the same issue, he maintained.

“Stopgap” measures are being taken to address the issue, he advised.

“A lot of other groups of physicians are stepping in.”

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Approved in December, the new contract offers family doctors an alternative to the fee-for-service system, which family doctors have long cited as a primary cause of the province’s doctor shortage.

Maharaj is hoping negotiations on a new contract for hospitalists, currently underway, can resolve the matter.

“I’m optimistic,” he commented.

“I’m hopeful that we’re going to see some improvement.”

Meanwhile, he acknowledged long waits, even for relatively minor medical issues, can be “extraordinarily frustrating,” but assured visitors to the local emergency department they can be confident that LMH is “fully committed to provide safe and quality care to all our clients,” and serious cases will be seen quickly.

In response to a Langley Advance Times query, the ministry of health issued a statement saying staff from both the ministry and Fraser Health met late last week with LMH hospitalists “who are concerned about their capacity,” and discussions were continuing on “a range of short-term and long-term solutions that we hope we can all agree on.”

Langley Advance Times has reached out to Langley Division of Family Practice for comment.