About 60 people packed into a UBCO lecture hall Saturday to take part in the first of several planned health forums put on by Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick.
Letnick, who was chair of the Select Standing Committee on Health, said it’s his goal to bring health topics of interest to local residents.
This weekend’s forum focused on issues affecting men’s and women’s health, including prostate cancer, proper dieting, importance of exercise and the impact of smoking and second-hand smoke.
“It’s a continuation of my consultation with people in the Central Okanagan about health care. As the chair of the Standing Committee on Health for the province of British Columbia, I’ve had a unique opportunity to see where our health care system is going and the challenges that it faces,” said Letnick.
“I’ve taken that time to learn about our health care system and communicate with people locally…it came to the point where I thought it would be worthwhile to look at specific topics that run the gamut of health care.”
The panel of experts included: Dr. Marjorie Docherty, Canada’s 2011 Family Physician of the Year, Dr. Joan Bottorff and Dr. Larry Goldenberg.
Letnick said he aims to continue the forums on a monthly basis for as long as he can continue to convince speakers to donate their time and as long as the public continues to show interest.
“Everything from cardiac care and prevention, heart disease care and prevention, death and dying, the future of health care in Canada. (These are) all topics that people have told me are significant and important to their lives.”
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
