Petition protesting VJH conditions gathers steam

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - May 11, 2008

North Okanagan residents continue to put pen to paper to protest conditions at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. While it’s not known how many people have signed a petition demanding increased resources for VJH, organizers say the number grows daily. “Things have been going very well. There’s going to be a very good petition result,” said Tony Stamboulieh, spokesman for the Vernon Taxpayers Association. The petition was launched as a result of VJH regularly being at code purple (full). It calls on the provincial government to provide more resources for acute care beds as well as nurses and operating rooms. “People are mad and it will become an election issue,” said Stamboulieh of patients being placed in hallways. “People are hopping mad at being treated like cattle.” The names on the petition aren’t just from Vernon. “From right across the region we are getting support,” said Stamboulieh. The petition is available at Armstrong Bakery, Armstrong city hall, the Ashton Creek Store, Askew’s in Armstrong, Butcher Boys, the Coldstream municipal office, Hungry Jack’s in Enderby, the Enderby Credit Union, Enderby IDA Pharmacy, the Falkland Store, the Halina Centre, the Lumby Pharmacy, North Valley Echo in Enderby, Pleasant Valley Quilting in Armstrong, Serenity Tanning, Shepherd’s Hardware in Armstrong, Spallumcheen municipal office, Towne Cinema, Vernon city hall, local doctor’s offices and medical clinics.

Volunteers will also have petition signing tables at the Swan Lake Nurseryland, the Vernon Farmers’ Market, Buy-Low Foods and the Schubert Centre. Anyone wishing to download the petition can find it at vernonblog.blogspot.com. If anyone can volunteer to circulate the petition, call 260-1082. The petition campaign will wrap up May 31. “We will release the results at that time,” said Stamboulieh.
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May 11 Morning Star Editorial Concerns abound over VJH plan

It’s no surprise that the provincial government continues to white-wash a planned expansion at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. A preferred private consortium has been selected for negotiations that could lead to it designing, building, financing and maintaining the diagnostic and treatment tower. As part of the announcement, MLA Tom Christensen said a new facility, “will bring together existing programs in a more efficient facility that will enhance patient care now, as well as allow for future expansion.” And yet there is no guarantee that the new tower will meet the future needs of a growing region. There is no firm commitment on additional acute care beds or guaranteed funding for extra operating rooms and surgical theatres. No where is there space allotted for equipment such as an MRI. And despite the government’s rhetoric, there are other unanswered questions that come to mind. Will maintenance staff at VJH be privatized and, if they are, what will that mean in terms of providing a safe, healthy environment for patients? There’s also been no debate on public/private partnerships and whether turning the tower over to a corporation is the best thing for health care or taxpayers. One gets the impression that while negotiations must still be completed, that a deal with Infusion Health is a foregone conclusion — that the province and the Interior Health Authority got on the P3 highway and nothing will force them off course.But as the process continues, let’s hope that it’s patient care that remains the priority and not free-enterprise ideology.