Residents in Northern Vancouver Island held a rally Saturday, demanding that the province needs to answer staffing issues at their local hospitals and facilities.
“The people are needing to be heard,” said Fran Jenkins.
“The event is about the people of the North Island and surrounding areas, standing up for our doctors so Island Health knows that we want some changes. It’s time we support our doctors.”
“We are appreciative of the government’s investment, but we want to see tangible plans. Where is the money going?
The rally had around 300 people from across the region, organizers said.
The region has been experiencing intermittent closures at a number of facilities in Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Cormorant Island, and Alert Bay for months.
Last month, Island Health, the province and a Port Hardy doctor, Dr. Alex Nataros, were at odds regarding staffing levels in these areas and the subsequent closures.
“I am advocating for physician assistants because I only have one set of hands,” Nataros said.
“I am here to advocate for my patients because the stakes are too high in our health-care crisis.
“Our communities — Port Hardy, Port McNeill, and Alert Bay — have continued to see emergency room closures and unstable staffing owing to lack of support and at times, mismanagement by Island Health.”
When Global News asked Island Health about short-term and long-term solutions for the region’s health services issues on Friday, it pointed to a release from January.
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“Significant efforts are underway to stabilize and improve access to reliable health-care services, including emergency care, in Port Hardy and the Mount Waddington region,” Ministry of Health staff said in the release.
“Emergency department services will be available from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. in Port Hardy, from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Cormorant Island, and 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Port McNeill.”
Residents that organized the rally said they were not happy with the province and Island Health’s comments.
“I don’t know about you, but I want to know when our hospitals are opened, not closed,” Jenkins said in a video on YouTube.
“Now with the closures in Port Hardy and Alert Bay all night, all emergencies are coming to Port McNeill. It is not reasonable. It is not sustainable.”
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix provided some comments on Friday at a press conference.
“There are challenges in some smaller communities, where the opening of a facility depends on a relatively small number of people,” he said.
“When it is not safe to operate in a certain way, we cannot operate in that way. Our plan in Merritt, just like our plan in Port Hardy, is to take action and support those communities.
“In Port Hardy, the plan we put in place to support all of the three hospitals in that region … you’re already seeing the impacts of that.”
The plan Dix is referencing is outlined in the January press release.
“Stabilizing and supporting staffing throughout Northern Vancouver Island is key to health-care access. This includes enhancing staff recruitment and retention incentives for eligible staff with travel-wage increases, upgraded accommodations for travelling staff, and more protection-service officers to improve safety and site support,” BC Ministry staff said.
“Island Health will establish daily shuttle services between Port Hardy and Port McNeill hospitals, as well as daily shuttles to Campbell River and the Comox Valley for patients and staff.
“Island Health will also add new 24/7 mental-health and substance-use services, such as additional sobering and assessment centre beds to increase access to supportive care and reduce emergency department admissions. Similarly, additional long-term care beds are being established in Port Hardy to improve patient flow at the hospital.”
Contrary to Dix and the government’s comments, the residents holding the rally argue steps aren’t being taken fast enough, as hospitals in the area are still having closures.
B.C. Rural Health Network’s executive director, Paul Adams, talked to Global News on Saturday to share his thoughts on rural health-care issues.
“It is unfortunate to see what’s happening in the North Island — it’s also happening in Haida Gwaii, the B.C. Interior and in the north. We are really having the same problem everywhere. We are operating with a skeleton staff,” he said.
“We have a problem with attracting new physicians, nurses and medical officers to rural locations for practice.
“We see a need to change the system from the ground up. We need to engage with the ministry for rural-specific solutions. We need to involve more community voices back into the health care.”
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