BC鈥檚 Minister of Health, Josie Osborne, is visiting 麻豆精选 General Hospital today (KGH), but local MLA Gavin Dew says the visit doesn鈥檛 fix what he calls a long-standing crisis in health care.
鈥淭oday, Minister Osborne is finally visiting KGH, but we are hearing some groups of healthcare professionals have been selectively excluded from meetings,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ither the Minister doesn鈥檛 want to hear the full story, or information is being withheld from her. Clearly, there is much more work to do to rebuild trust and reset the system.鈥�
The health ministry has confirmed Osborne鈥檚 visit.
鈥淭he distinct impression I get is that she鈥檚 coming to town in order to have a curated set of meetings so that when she doesn鈥檛 show up at the town hall on Wednesday, she can say she was here,鈥� Dew added.
IH is currently being led by an interim CEO following the resignation of Susan Brown earlier this month. While some see the leadership change as a step forward, Dew argues it doesn鈥檛 go far enough.
鈥淪wapping out one person at Interior Health doesn鈥檛 let the province off the hook,鈥� Dew said. 鈥淭his crisis didn鈥檛 appear overnight鈥攁nd it didn鈥檛 happen in a vacuum.鈥�
He pointed to stalled or delayed health care improvements, including 50 hospital beds worth of unfinished space at KGH that have sat idle for more than a decade.
鈥淧atients are treated in crowded hallways,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need more doctors trained at UBCO and more lab techs coming out of Okanagan College. And we need a government that understands health care in the Interior isn鈥檛 an afterthought鈥攊t鈥檚 a priority. So far, we鈥檝e seen little urgency and little proof that Minister Osborne gets that.鈥�
In May, the 10-bed inpatient pediactrics unit at KGH was shut down due to a shortage of doctors. IH has stated that is making progress to reopen the unit, however, no firm date has been announced.
Dew acknowledged that the health minister was at least "showing up."
"But you make choices around what you do when you schedule on of these things," he said. "The fact there is no media release, there's no media availability that I'm aware of, there's no details, suggests to me that there is still some work to be done."
Dew and fellow 麻豆精选-area BC Conservative MLAs Kristina Loewen and Macklin McCall are hosting 麻豆精选 Health Care Crisis Town Hall on Wednesday, July 2. The public event runs from 5鈥�7 p.m. at the Coast Capri Hotel and will feature patients, families and frontline workers sharing personal experiences with the health care system.
鈥淭his is a chance to hear directly from the people who live with the consequences of this government鈥檚 failure every day,鈥� Dew said, 鈥渁nd to send a message to the government that it鈥檚 time to fix our healthcare.鈥�
