Shuswap Your Classified Connection / Vol. 23 No. 33 Friday, August 17, 2012
Market News
Salmon Arm
A10 Rabies case Man scratched by infected bat. Plus South Shuswap A8-9 Sports A18
Chase
A20 Unity Ride Generations share four-day journey. Plus Paddleboarding A22 What’s On A23
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Health centre closures spark rally Chase: Citizens draw attention to increasing problem with lack of doctors, services. By Cavelle Layes MARKET NEWS STAFF
Chase residents took to the streets July 14, in an effort to protect the future of the Chase Health Care Centre. Sick of seeing signs on the door saying that services would be closed for yet another stretch of days, Val Donnelly decided to organize a day of protest in hope of getting the attention of government. Donnelly is a Chase resident with a substantial background in health care, including a career as a paramedic and an emergency medical dispatcher. She was responsible for the start-up of the first responders in the North Shuswap, and helped out with the South Shuswap as well. Donnelly also ran for council in the last election, taking on the healthcare platform. Tuesday’s event was a success in Donnelly’s eyes, with 18 people showing up in the morning and many more dropping by throughout the day. “It is a weekday; I understand many people have to work,” she said. Donnelly says she received plenty of feedback from Chase residents throughout the day though.
“The most common concern is that they are worried about having no doctors,” she says. At about 3 p.m. the group of protestors positioned themselves in front of the village office in order to meet the mayor and council as they were heading in for the 4 p.m. council meeting. Most of the councillors made a quick comment as they entered the building, but neither in favour nor support of the protest. Mayor Ron Anderson was the only one to approach the group, having a quick word before making his way into the building. “He asked us what we expected them to do about it and what it was that we thought they did in there,” said Donnelly, clearly unimpressed with his response. Coun. Rod Crowe said that even he doesn’t have a doctor in Chase, that he travels to Port Coquitlam to see his doctor. Ironically, the Chase Health Care Centre was closed during the protest, once again due to a lack of doctors, which Donnelly says is the top health-care concern for the area. According to Bryan Redford, community area director for Interior Health, the
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# Chase Mayor Ron Anderson walks into the village office as a group of protesters gather outside with placards expressing their concerns regarding closures at the Chase Health Care Centre and a lack of doctors in the village. Chase Health Centre was closed for 16 days between April 2010 and the end of March 2011. “This is very good for an area like Chase,” he notes. But the situation appears to be getting worse. According to the Interior Health website, a lack of doctors has resulted in the issuing of ‘temporary closure’ notices for a total of 23 days from May, 2012 until now. These closures have forced residents to leave Chase and instead go to either Salmon Arm or Kamloops for emergency care. “From my perspective I appreciate that residents have concerns when ER’s
get closed,” says Redford. “IH is not happy any time we need to close an ER. We don’t have enough physicians. We need three physicians on any given day to operate the ER, in order for the doctors to meet demands of the clinic.” Redford noted IH hired a second doctor on July 23, and is actively recruiting a third. While three doctors would keep the ER open, Donnelly says she would like to see more, pointing out that Chase once had six doctors working at any given time. Redford explains that Chase often does not have the proper number of per-
manent doctors in place to keep the centre open, but are able to do so through other methods. “Any time we don’t have a permanent position we rely on locums,” he says, pointing out B.C. has a limited supply of physicians and even fewer locums. He says IH continues to try to keep the centre open. Redford believes that Chase does a great job recruiting doctors to move to work in the area, and credits the community for this success. “Mayor Anderson and the people of Chase have done an outstanding job,” he See Interior on page 2
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