IHA defends review of hospital

Published: May 02, 2009 12:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star

The Interior Health Authority denies it’s putting Vernon Jubilee Hospital on the backburner. The Vernon Taxpayers Association has slammed a review of acute, community and residential care, and it says IHA should move ahead with an emergency operating room as suggested by doctors. But Pat Furey, VJH administrator, believes the review is necessary. “We have lots of people with experience on both sides and what we need is a cold-eyes assessment,” she said. “If they are saying IHA knows what the problem is, we don’t know.” While population growth for the area is up six per cent, surgeries have climbed 31 per cent — a higher rate than the provincial average. “We have five physicians sitting on the review panel as well as front line staff and community representatives,” said Furey.“We are committed to acting on the recommendations.”

The association believes the review is unnecessary. “The workers on the front line have suggested a cost-effective and immediate solution — a dedicated emergency operating room,” said Tony Stamboulieh, association spokesman, in a release. “An emergency operating room would require no immediate physical infrastructure renovation, training of staff or other human resources. The number one cause for delay of discharge is that the patient is waiting for surgery. With a dedicated emergency operating room patients would be discharged in a timely manner.” Stamboulieh suggests VJH does more surgeries because it accepts patients from the Shuswap, Columbia and Arrow Lakes region. “But Kamloops gets the funding. Why? Because Kamloops is a tertiary hospital and giving an emergency operating room to VJH would set a precedent,” he said.

However, Furey says the budget isn’t just based on population demographics, but also funding from the government, population growth and referral patterns.