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Vol. 5 • Issue 22 2
Ribbon cut on new ER MEGAN COLE Nelson Star Reporter
The road leading to the unveiling of the new Kootenay Lake Hospital emergency room on Wednesday afternoon has not been without bumps and detours, but excitement and celebration was the theme of the opening as the public was welcomed into the recently completed wing. For 32 years, Jan Flett has been an emergency room nurse at the hospital and has experienced first hand the changes that have affected local health care. “It’s a huge improvement to the community,” Flett told the Star. “After all that we lost in terms of hospital services about 11 years ago, this to me feels like the first big new thing that we’ve gotten after we had so much taken away from us. It feels really positive and I’m looking forward to working here.” Nearly 150 members of the community packed into the new waiting area of the emergency room as local politicians and other representatives spoke in celebration of the new facility. Interior Health Authority board member Glenn Sutherland, Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater, West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District chair Marguerite Rotvold, Nelson mayor John Dooley, chief of emergency medicine Dr. Rahul Khosla and Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation chair Pat Dooley all addressed the crowd.
Those cutting the ribbon at the new Kootenay Lake Hospital ER on Wednesday afternoon included (from left) chair of the West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District Marguerite Rotvold, Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater, Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation chair Pat Dooley, Nelson mayor John Dooley, KLH nurse Jan Flett, chief of emergency medicine Dr. Rahul Khosla and Bob Hall photo local Interior Health board member Glenn Sutherland.
Khosla said the renovations and construction of the facility required a lot of specialized contractors working to complete a complex system. The opening of the new emergency room facility was anticipated last fall, but delays kept coming including an announcement in May that the community would have to
Home Owners helping home owners
wait for the reveal. “Today is a day for celebration,” said Khosla. “I don’t think any project necessarily goes the way you think it should, but what we are celebrating today is that the end product is beautiful and you know if there is frustration with the delays, the delays were there because the folks managing this project in-
sisted on perfection and we’ve got perfection.” Khosla was among six speakers who began the opening ceremony. “It’s a very complex system,” he said. “There is a complicated electrical system, communication Story continues to ‘Delay’ on Page 8