A petition demanding more funding for beds and staff at Vernon Jubilee Hospital has been handed over to BC government officials. About 50 people were on hand outside Vernon city hall on Friday as Tony Stamboulieh from the Vernon Taxpayers Association announced the number of people who signed the document. Stamboulieh told the news conference, "By this petition of 17,000, going to 18,000, citizens and taxpayers in the North Okanagan and Shuswap, we are calling on the Campbell government to fund Vernon Jubilee Hospital according to the true population it serves, and increase operational funding for acute care beds, permanent nursing staff, operating rooms and an MRI machine." The petition was given to the executive assistant of Vernon MLA Tom Christensen, Min Sidhu, who says Christensen had a previous engagement in Cherryville but will comment on it later today.
Sidhu tells KISS FM, "I can't speak on his behalf, but of course he's taking it seriously. There's a lot of names on that list and I'm sure he's going to take it very seriously." The Taxpayers group also handed the petition to NDP health critic Adrian Dix who came up from Vancouver for the event. Dix was impressed with the number of signatures. "It couldn't be a louder statement. It says that in addition to what doctors and nurses and health care workers and patients are saying, the people of this community have had enough with a government that isn't listening." The 18,000 names were gathered over a five week period from around the region. There's been close to 50 "codes purples" called at the hospital this year, which indicate days its been over-capacity.
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