New hospital must be priority

Nov 01 2006 EDITORIAL http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
It’s increasingly obvious that Vernon Jubilee Hospital is starting to show its age. Just last week, mould had to be removed from the nursery after a water leak. On Monday, another leak — this time caused by plumbing work — dripped into the emergency department’s medication room, placing the pills at risk. Certainly water leaks are a fact of life, but such situations are a major concern in a facility that is crucial to the health and well-being of every resident of the North Okanagan. But of course the Ministry of Health appears oblivious to what’s going on. Instead of moving ahead with what the community needs — a new hospital — what is in the offing is a new diagnostic and treatment tower. While it’s certainly a good start, the fear is the tower will just be a Band-Aid, and the conditions in the existing hospital will continue to deteriorate. Physicians and VJH administration have been abundantly clear about the limitations of the current physical plant and that only so much more can be done in terms of renovations and repairs. Certainly a new hospital is a multi-million-dollar project but for doctors, nurses, other medical professionals, and especially patients, the cost is irrelevant. Ours is a growing region and we can’t expect the existing hospital to keep up with those demands. Now is the time for Victoria to not only commit to a new hospital, but to escalate the timeline to ensure it happens. Of course one has to wonder if we’d have a new facility already if Health Minister George Abbott or Premier Gordon Campbell had to have a medical procedure done here? It wouldn’t be so easy for them to brush the issue aside then.