The second video in this 6 part series on ALCOHOL USE DISORDER (AUD).
*Please note that these videos do not constitute medical advice and are not a substitute for medical care, which should be discussed with an individual’s care provider as a part of their overall care plan.
This past week Save Our Hospital Coalition conducted interviews with the two candidates for mayor, Rosemary Doughty and Frank Armitage, and the two candidates for councillor, Doug Pateman and Rob Rubis. Each candidate was asked nine questions regarding health care issues in our community. Here are the results of those interviews.
Question 1: If you become mayor/councillor, where would you place the health care issue on your list of priorities for Princeton?
Rosemary Doughty (RD): Health care would be my first priority. When I go door to door it is the only thing that people talk about. Whatever the community wants is what I would stand for.
My model of a good mayor is Walter Despot who worked hard for Keremeos’ healthcare. I would be involved in the issues. When I went to the ER closure demonstrations, I did not see the Mayor or Council there. I would like to see Council start a monthly open information session where they share with Princeton residents what they are doing and planning to do. If I become mayor, I would like to give more information and share more information. Leadership and being pro-active are part of my platform. Continue reading
SAVE OUR HOSPITAL RALLY
WHEN: Tuesday, May 22
TIME: 11:30am
WHERE: princeton general hospital entrance
Download the poster, tell your friends lets rally to show IHA we want our Emergency Room restored.
A story CTV did in September of 2011. Things have not gotten any better and Interior Health has still not come up with any answers.
Doctor shortage closes small-town ER on Labour Day | CTV British Columbia.
Spencer Coyne was interview by CBC’s Radio West on Tuesday May 8.
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The Save Our Hospital movement now has a place to call home. Thanks to the generosity of Councillor Kim Maynard and assistance from Save Our Similkameen (SOS),the Community Hospital Forum building is open for business. The building located at 259 Vermilion Ave. is a gathering place for not only the Save Our Hospital Coalition, SOHC but any concerned citizen who would like to assist in the struggle to have 24/7 Emergency Room services restored to the Princeton General Hospital.
The office will be open Monday to Saturday 12 noon to 6pm.
SOHC is looking for volunteers to staff the office on an ongoing basis anyone who wishes to assist even for a few hours a week are asked to please come into the office and sign up.
It has been recognized on both government and local levels that there is a unique problem with the medical care in Princeton. We apparently have enough doctors to cover the local and area populace; however, there are not enough physicians to man the Hospital Emergency Room. For years, the government has been running in circles, hiring “recruitment” officers, etc. and no solutions have been forthcoming. Now the area is in the midst of unacceptable 4-night-a-week closures in the Emergency Room. The government would like to “centralize” the health care in British Columbia, but that has its obvious flaws in emergency situations.
To solve this unique problem, the government must create a “unique” job position. Our government has a long history of creating new job positions, so this should not be difficult. As I understand it, doctors work on a fee for service basis. If they don’t have enough patients, they won’t make enough money to warrant their practice. The current Princeton doctors all have sufficient numbers of patients. To solve our “unique” problem, the government must create a salaried Emergency Room Doctor position. Continue reading
Submitted
April 24, 2012 Dawn Johnson’s ‘Current Comment
Similkameen News Leader
Copyright 2012 Bengel Publishing Inc.
Used with Permission
Princeton’s lack of emergency services has been in the news recently, with the result that I learned there is more to the story out there than broadcasted.
A friend of mine contacted me by telephone to relate her experience with an Interior Health Authority (IHA) employee. She was so upset by her conversation with this employee that she felt I should hear about it.
She spoke casually to the IHA employee about the plight of people in Princeton and their lack of physicians. She told me this was the reply: “Well, if people choose to live in a little hole like Princeton where doctors don’t want to go…They should move to the city.”
My friend, who lived here for years when we had a real hospital and a full complement of physicians, gave the IHA employee a blast about how it was the policy of IHA to reduce the Princeton hospital to the point where physicians cannot truly be physicians. She told him of the removal of surgical facilities and maternity facilities, and she admitted she became much more angry because of his attitude. She reminded him that people who lived in Princeton had their hospital gutted by IHA. Continue reading