PRINCETON — Big investments have poured into Princeton General Hospital. An attached clinic, Cascade Medical Centre, has just finished building a fifth exam room. Cherie Whittaker, hospital manager, says there are three physicians and one nurse practitioner — but not enough space.
“We didn’t have enough exam space for the amount of practitioners that were here and the model that they chose to use, so this gives them one more room,” explains Whittaker.
The clinic has also piloted a new program called “Rapid Access,” which functions as a walk-in clinic, allowing patients to get faster access to their family practitioners.
The hospital is addressing workload issues by hiring two new lab staff members.
However, the hunt is still on for two more doctors. Whittaker says recruitment has been challenging.
Love a Locum campaign recently launched, where the community provides home-cooked meals and other gestures to make the visiting physicians feel welcomed.
“We hope that it will have an effect on their decision to perhaps stay and set up practice here,” says Ed Staples, Love a Locum campaign organizer.
Creating a warmer Princeton isn’t the only focus, the hospital has also upgraded with new $60,000 X-ray equipment, which the Princeton Hospital Auxiliary members and South Okanagan Similkameen Medication Foundation paid for.
The new machine provides better images, while also reducing the amount of radiation patients are exposed to. Radiologists from the Penticton hospital are able to download the pictures in real time.
Prior to this new system, patients would have have to set up another appointment with their physicians for their consultation.
A new tub room is almost complete. This will allow patients to take a bath, which they haven’t been able to do for the more than a year.
“This has been a good addition for our site because elderly people prefer baths and not showers, and we’ll be able to provide that care for them,” says Whittaker.
With advanced equipment and renovated space, the hospital hopes it will serve people in Princeton better — and maybe it will even attract new doctors.
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