Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor is urging Minister of Health Josie Osborne to get to the bottom of a shortage of mental and physical health care in the city.
Rathor and Osborne met over dinner on Tuesday, July 22, during the minister乌鸦传媒檚 tour of B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 Interior region and discussed the mayor乌鸦传媒檚 demands from the Ministry of Health.
乌鸦传媒淚 am very happy and delighted with the meeting I had with the minister,乌鸦传媒� Rathor said in an interview with the Tribune. 乌鸦传媒淚 will be more delighted when she delivers.乌鸦传媒�
And deliver she will, Rathor said with confidence.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 no reason not to believe her," he said, referencing Osborne乌鸦传媒檚 history in municipal politics and his belief that it allows the minister to understand the lake city乌鸦传媒檚 challenges.
The mayor said Osborne promised to work on his demands, which included more detox and treatment centres in the area to help address the drug crisis. His priorities for the minister also included addressing the health care shortage by increasing opportunities for and access to training, by streamlining the transfer of out-of-province credentials and by introducing more financial incentives to encourage healthcare professionals to work in rural B.C.
Rathor said he requested that his demands be addressed as soon as possible. Whether that乌鸦传媒檚 tomorrow or down the road, he isn乌鸦传媒檛 sure, but he trusts it will get done.
Osborne乌鸦传媒檚 visit to B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 Interior began in Kamloops and ended in Kamloops, with stops in Vernon, Cache Creek and 100 Mile House along the way. During her visit to Williams Lake, she toured the new Urgent and Primary Care Centre, the All Nations Healing House and the multi-million-dollar addition to the Cariboo Memorial Hospital, which is currently under construction.
"They乌鸦传媒檙e really doing a phenomenal job,乌鸦传媒� Osborne said about the additions to the hospital. 乌鸦传媒淚t's just really good to see that that's the kind of state-of-the-art facility we can build...people in rural communities really deserve it.乌鸦传媒�
Mayor Rathor raised concerns about being able to staff the hospital乌鸦传媒檚 new addition, and Osborne assured him that healthcare professionals have shown much interest in the potential to work in a new, upgraded hospital versus older hospitals elsewhere.
Among those interested, he said, are 乌鸦传媒榦ur very own乌鸦传媒� UBC students near graduation who won乌鸦传媒檛 need further licensing and will be able to start working as soon as they can. Osborne also told the Tribune that a medical school will open in Surrey next year with a focus on family medicine.
乌鸦传媒淣inety per cent of students who do medical school in B.C. stay in B.C.," she said, optimistic that this will help deliver and retain healthcare workers in the province.
The shortage of healthcare workers has led to repeated closures in hospitals across the Interior region, with the closure of Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 pediatric unit lasting eight weeks. Amid the pediatric unit closure, Interior Health (IH) announced its Chief Administrative Officer, Susan Brown, would be stepping down.
At the time, Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew, an outspoken critic of both IH and Minister Osborne, said Brown's resignation is "an overdue step in the right direction."
Then on July 26, Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops announced possible changes to maternity care that would last the rest of the summer, a move that came a week after pregnant women in Prince George were told they would be diverted to Kamloops due to reduced obstetric services throughout August.
In April, IH told the Tribune it was expanding access to withdrawal management services and that people in the Interior region would be able to call the Access Central Line by this summer. At this time, the ministry said it is in the first of three phases towards expanding Access Central. When clients reach out to withdrawal management service providers, they are transferred to the IH Access Central team to received centralized screening, assessments, triaging, bed-matching and personalized substance use care planning. Phase 2 will be launched in the fall for internal referrals.
With files from Gary Barnes and Monica Lamb-Yorski
Editor's note: This story has been updated from its original.
