By Keith Lacey

She wouldn’t call it a panic situation, but there are deep concerns about healthcare services in Osoyoos and Oliver, says a well-known Osoyoos community activist who has started a petition to address those concerns.

Brenda Dorosz, who formed the Save Our School committee last year in an effort to keep Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) from closing and then ran unsuccessfully to win the NDP nomination for Boundary-Similkameen in the upcoming May provincial election, says there’s been very strong community reaction to her petition since she started circulating it last Sunday.

The petition is available online as well as at 15 stores and community gathering places in Osoyoos, said Dorosz.

“We’ve had really strong response in both Osoyoos and Oliver,” said Dorosz. “A lot of people are very worried about what’s happening with healthcare … and the fact you can’t get a doctor in Osoyoos.”

Besides circulating a petition, Dorosz has also formed her own Facebook page called Residents for Healthcare – Osoyoos and Oliver – to spread the word about the campaign.

The online petition can be reached by going online and visiting www.change.org/p/urgent-need-for-more-doctor-medical-services-in-osoyoos-bc.

Dorosz and two good friends who she didn’t yet want to name had scheduled a meeting with Town of Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff Friday morning to discuss the petition and their concerns over healthcare services in Osoyoos and Oliver.

The three women had also agreed to be interviewed by a crew from Global Television after meeting with McKortoff.

Dorosz believes healthcare will become one of, if not, the biggest issue for South Okanagan residents during the upcoming election campaign leading into the May 9 provincial election.

The petition was circulated the day before Dr. Peter Entwistle, Chief of Staff at South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH) in Oliver announced he was stepping down from his position over concerns about the number of beds being cut at the hospital.

Dorosz said her phone has been “ringing off the hook” over the past several days with Osoyoos and Oliver residents voicing their concerns over the lack of healthcare services in both communities.

“Healthcare issues are a huge concern and I’ve received so many calls, it’s truly unbelievable,” she said.

Because the two towns are located so close to one another and SOGH services residents from Osoyoos and Oliver, Dorosz said she and supporters would like to form a coalition with community leaders in Oliver to look at possible solutions to healthcare concerns.

“I think it would be better if we worked together,” she said.

Dorosz said she and many others she has talked to are very worried SOGH will be closed once the new $325-million Pentiction Regional Hospital tower is completed in 2019.

“I believe the plan is to close the hospital in Oliver once the new tower in Penticton is completed,” she said. “That would really be bad for residents in Osoyoos and Oliver who would have to travel all the way to Penticton if the hospital in Oliver were closed.”

Entwistle has hinted strongly he is planning to enter the race to represent the Boundary-Similkameen to make healthcare the primary focus in the upcoming campaign.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver-based BC Health Coalition is planning an information session on Tuesday, April 4 to talk about MSP premiums, extended wait times and other healthcare concerns.

That session will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Osoyoos Seniors Centre.

Another session will take place on Saturday morning at the Oliver Community centre starting at 9 a,m., The session is scheduled to last until noon.

Similar sessions are scheduled for Princeton on April 4 at 7 p.m. and Grand Forks on April 6 at 5:30 p.m.

“The provincial election is a major opportunity to improve public health care for everyone, and in Osoyoos we want to push candidates from all parties to strengthen health care,” the coalition says on its website. “To do that, we need to start working now.

“If you want to see health care get better for everyone we’d love to have you join us.”

The BC Health Coalition is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with plans to push provincial parties to have strong public healthcare pillars in their platforms.

To learn more about the Coalition and its objectives in the Boundary-Similkameen, visitwww.votepublichealthbc.ca/boundary_similkameen.