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Photo: Contributed - Stephanie Dryhurst
Former Okanagan-Shuswap Member of Parliament Darrel Stinson.
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There might be a new tower open at Vernon Jubilee Hospital,
but residents say it is still not enough and the top two floors are not
complete. The parking lot in front of the new VJH Polson Tower was crowded with
former patients and local provincial representatives, Monday afternoon,
in a grass roots attempt to send a message to the B.C. government that
there is desperate need for acute care beds. Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick says people need to support the project and get involved. “Send letters and e-mails to the Premier to have the top two floors
completed. Our population has outpaced the number of beds available, and
with the aging population we will be playing a catch up game to keep up
with the needs of long term beds.” Scheduled to open September 25 the new tower will not include an increase in acute hospital beds. VJH is funded for 148 acute care beds but usually there are up to 165 patients daily. Former Okanagan-Shuswap Member of Parliament Darrel Stinson knows about
the situation in Vernon first hand and spoke about his experiences at
the rally. Stinson, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2005, says he has never been
to a hospital like Vernon, a code purple. The code means the hospital
is suddenly overwhelmed by the number of patients awaiting emergency
medical attention.
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Photo: Contributed - Stephanie Dryhurst
Kelly Collins a former patient
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“There were people in hallways, I was bumping into their beds.
Something is drastically wrong, there is no privacy and it has to
change.” The cost to complete the towers could be about $10 million for each of
the floors and then another $10 million annually to operate each of the
floors. The Master of Ceremonies for the day’s rally was Jim Hart who equated
the top two floors of the tower to the TV show Extreme Makeover. “Except when the crowd yells ‘move that bus’, the family goes into
their newly renovated home only to find that there aren’t any beds.” Many people who had been patients of VJH, such as Kelly Collins,
gathered around with signs to show their disgust with the lack of acute
care beds at the hospital. “I have spent time in the hospital on many occasions in hallways and closets. Where has all the money gotten to?” Nurses, doctors and hospital staff also attended the rally.
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