BC乌鸦传媒檚 Minister of Health, Josie Osborne, is visiting Kelowna General Hospital today (KGH), but local MLA Gavin Dew says the visit doesn乌鸦传媒檛 fix what he calls a long-standing crisis in health care.
乌鸦传媒淭oday, Minister Osborne is finally visiting KGH, but we are hearing some groups of healthcare professionals have been selectively excluded from meetings,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淓ither the Minister doesn乌鸦传媒檛 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.乌鸦传媒�
The health ministry has confirmed Osborne乌鸦传媒檚 visit.
乌鸦传媒淭he distinct impression I get is that she乌鸦传媒檚 coming to town in order to have a curated set of meetings so that when she doesn乌鸦传媒檛 show up at the town hall on Wednesday, she can say she was here,乌鸦传媒� 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乌鸦传媒檛 go far enough.
乌鸦传媒淪wapping out one person at Interior Health doesn乌鸦传媒檛 let the province off the hook,乌鸦传媒� Dew said. 乌鸦传媒淭his crisis didn乌鸦传媒檛 appear overnight乌鸦传媒攁nd it didn乌鸦传媒檛 happen in a vacuum.乌鸦传媒�
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.
乌鸦传媒淧atients are treated in crowded hallways,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淲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乌鸦传媒檛 an afterthought乌鸦传媒攊t乌鸦传媒檚 a priority. So far, we乌鸦传媒檝e seen little urgency and little proof that Minister Osborne gets that.乌鸦传媒�
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 Kelowna-area BC Conservative MLAs Kristina Loewen and Macklin McCall are hosting Kelowna Health Care Crisis Town Hall on Wednesday, July 2. The public event runs from 5乌鸦传媒�7 p.m. at the Coast Capri Hotel and will feature patients, families and frontline workers sharing personal experiences with the health care system.
乌鸦传媒淭his is a chance to hear directly from the people who live with the consequences of this government乌鸦传媒檚 failure every day,乌鸦传媒� Dew said, 乌鸦传媒渁nd to send a message to the government that it乌鸦传媒檚 time to fix our healthcare.乌鸦传媒�
