Concerns about Vernon Jubilee Hospital will be front and centre during a public forum. The VJH medical staff will host a forum on health care at the Schubert Centre Tuesday at 7 p.m. “This presentation is the result of several groups coming forward requesting further information on the paper Dr. Hamish Hwang and I prepared showing that VJH is underfunded in relation to other sites within IHA,” said Dr. Chris Cunningham, president of medical staff. “We used IHA's and the ministry's own numbers to show that in fact VJH has been underfunded compared to its peers. The medical staff decided to turn to the public to relay this information and answer questions.” Cunningham says medical staff are pleased that government has committed to funding a new diagnostic and treatment tower at VJH, but other issues must be addressed. “This is not an expansion. “There are no plans for the remaining existing parts of the old hospital, in fact most is deemed unsuitable right now.”
The forum will also look at the issue of beds. “We are so short of beds right now. We need to be confident that new additional beds will be provided now, and for this new building,” said Cunningham. “New assisted living and residential care beds have helped. Cunningham hopes residents will attend the forum. “We hope to continue to bring awareness to the local population regarding health care issues, and how this impacts care for all North Okanagan and Columbia-Shuswap patients,” he said. “We need to continue to pressure the government and the Ministry of Health, as they hold the purse strings to funding for these desperately needed additional acute care beds.”
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Past Presentation to Vernon Council:
Agenda Package - 5.97MB P.101 to P.127 ( Presentation to COW meeting Jan 28/08
Letter dated January 16, 2008 from Dr. Hamish Hwang and Dr. Chris Cunningham, re: Funding Disparity among IHA Regional Boards. )
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