New hires are helping the Kelowna General Hospital pediatric unit reopen after it has been closed for months.

Interior Health has hired three new pediatricians who begin work starting in September with fourth expected to come on board in November, according to an Interior Health press release issued today, Aug. 14.

“These new physicians, combined with our existing medical staff, mean the inpatient unit has capacity to serve all pediatric patients in our area who need care,” Interior Health’s vice president of medicine Dr. Mark Masterson said in the release.

“I want to thank our team at the hospital and staff and physicians throughout the Interior region who came together to support pediatric care during this time.”

The 10-bed pediatric unit closed on May 26 and partially reopened on July 13. The new staff will allow the unit to have all pediatric services restored as of Friday.

Since the closure, there have been 22 pediatric patients transferred to other health-care sites because of the service disruption.

The unit closure has been controversial with health care workers speaking out about a toxic work environment and politicians blaming Interior Health’s leadership for the problems.