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Re: Doctors relay troubling news about hospital’s ER
Dear Editor:
Imagine this: you are a first responder screaming your way to another automobile accident, lights flashing sirens blasting, and get this, you are having to cover an area that is seemingly being forgotten by our BC Government and it’s culpable departments.
The area could be from Oliver or Osoyoos, to Kaleden or Keremeos or all the way to Grand Forks, not counting all the communities in between (Midway, Rock Creek, Greenwood).
In the case of the paramedics, after loading up the results of that terrible automobile accident you have to call ahead and inquire if any doctors are on duty at the Oliver Hospital. Is it open tonight?
This one is bad – the patient is a kid, I repeat the patient is a child – and time is of the essence.
“We repeat, is the Oliver Hospital open tonight? Are there any doctors on duty? Or should we drive another half an hour (weather permitting) onto Penticton or beyond and hope for the best? Hello, anyone there in Oliver? Hello, is anyone there?”
This situation is totally unacceptable by any means; it is wrong and it has to change, end off!
The political crap must stop. The communities and politicians of all the above communities must and should get together and put an end to this public debacle.
Let it be known, if we do nothing this little “merg” at the hospital in Oliver will go the way of the Dodo Bird.
I call upon all the stewards of our community to band together, including Chief Clarence Louie and all the movers and shakers, including all the doctors who are practicing in our community, to join in and lets put and end to this travesty.
If we can pull policemen off public duty every time the new prison has a hiccup, or if we lose a policeman off the street because a released inmate needs to be chauffeured to where ever makes him happy, and let’s not forget if we can afford to give a misplaced hotel ten years of land tax freedom, we can surely get behind the movement to aid in the viable operation of the Emergency Department at the Oliver Hospital.
One should consider, in the middle of winter would you want to drive from these above communities past Oliver onto Penticton or Kelowna to spend time with your loved one who has had the misfortune to be a patient through no fault of their own?
Let it be known that there are people living here in the Oliver community with clout, people with connections, people who have influence and they are all sitting safe and saying no, sitting on the fence and turning the other cheek.
It is shameful that they are steadfast in not rocking the boat. Shame on all of you, and to the “Lame the Limp and the Lazy,” you too are not excused. Get off your arse and be counted. Send in a letter, pick up the phone, refuse any excuses, bug the arse off them. Refuse to be put off and demand to be heard!
If you think that losing a local hospital emergency department isn’t important, think again. Why the hell are we letting this happen in our community?
Don Smithyman, Oliver
