Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) utilized additional support from South Okanagan General Hospital to address “Boonstock” demands on the August long weekend.

Calum Hughes, acute health service director for both facilities, confirmed that Penticton sought extra support from Oliver physicians to prepare for the big music festival.

Hughes said there was no significant impact to SOGH as the hospital was prepared for a busy long weekend.

“The South Okanagan General Hospital emergency department was busy over the August long weekend and the team did a great job of providing care with the increased volume,” he said.

Prior to the long weekend, and in anticipation of PRH potentially being busy, SOGH accepted eight patients from Penticton to assist the Peach City in preparing for increased hospital visits.

Penticton’s emergency department received approximately 90 patients over the long weekend. Most were treated for alcohol and drug-related ailments.

With the addition of Boonstock, the pressure on emergency services in the South Okanagan was taken to “unprecedented” levels, according to the RCMP.

Despite additional security resources, Boonstock experienced a major tragedy in the death of  23-year-old Lynn Lorraine Tolocka from Leduc, Alberta. She died from medical distress due to an apparent drug overdose.

In fact, a large number of festival attendees experienced overdose symptoms that weekend, according to police.

In order to address increasing concerns and a gap left by private security, the RCMP enhanced their police resources for the final two days in order to bolster security and public safety.

“Though we had a dedicated group of police officers assigned to the event, additional resources were called in to help deal with the demands,” said Superintendent Kevin Hewco, commander of the Penticton RCMP.

The total policing costs have not yet been determined but are expected to far exceed the original estimates. The reason is because of the need for additional resources above and beyond the initial operational plan.

Lyonel Doherty

Oliver Chronicle