NEWS

Loewen calls for urgent action as Kelowna mom’s life-saving liver transplant remains unscheduled

February 20, 2026
KELOWNA, B.C.: MLA for Kelowna Centre Kristina Loewen calls for urgent action as Kelowna woman’s life-saving liver transplant remains unscheduled.  “Government says it won’t interfere to preserve confidence, yet this is exactly why British Columbians are losing confidence,” says MLA Kristina Loewen.  MLA Kristina Loewen is calling on BC Transplant and the relevant health authorities to take immediate action to secure a life-saving liver transplant for Lyndsay Richholt, a 42-year-old Kelowna woman whose health has sharply deteriorated after repeated delays and prolonged gaps in communication.  “British Columbians are being told the Minister responsible won’t intervene because she doesn’t want people to lose confidence in the system,” said Loewen. “But how can any British Columbian have confidence in a system that treats Lyndsey like this, where urgent, life-and-death care is met with silence, delays, and broken follow-through?”  Richholt was diagnosed 18 years ago with Autoimmune Hepatitis and was told she would eventually require a transplant. In March 2025, she was informed she had approximately six months to live. Nearly a year later, she still has not received the transplant date, and her condition has worsened significantly.  According to Richholt’s account, her case has been complicated by the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scoring system, which is used to prioritize patients for transplants. She says the scoring does not adequately reflect the urgency of her underlying condition, leaving her too low on the list despite the severity of her situation.  Loewen said Richholt has faced repeated setbacks, including: 
  • Incorrect information about living donor eligibility, when she was told a donor could not be approved unless related to her; 
  • A transplant that was cancelled after her matched donor was injured; 
  • A prolonged period where Richholt says she was not contacted for months, despite expectations of regular follow-up; 
  • And, after public advocacy, being told in January that approved donors were in place and a transplant could occur within a week, followed by another period of non-response and no scheduled surgery. 
“As Lyndsey has been forced to wait, her health has deteriorated further. She is now experiencing acute kidney failure,” said Loewen. “This is a medical emergency. A system that cannot communicate, cannot follow its own timelines, and cannot provide answers is not a system that deserves blind confidence, it’s a system that demands urgent accountability and immediate action.” 

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Kristina Loewen

Kelowna Centre

Kristina Loewen

Kelowna Centre

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