First impressions are just that, but it seems to us the Oceanside Health Centre will have one sharp CEO when it opens its doors next year.
However, the talent level and communication savvy of Sheila Cruikshank may be irrelevant if Oceanside doctors aren’t fully buying in to the health centre’s raison d’etre.
Cruikshank seems to be saying and doing all the right things to fulfill the promises made about the health centre, namely that it will be open 15 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
She is not discussing details of how many registered nurses or other professionalas covered by collective agreements will be added to the region to work in the new facility. That seems prudent — as a newspaper we may want those details for our readers, but we concede negotiating in the media can be counterproductive.
Perhaps that’s the view of Oceanside doctors, too. We’d like to tell you what the doctors currently think about the Vancouver Island Heath Authority’s plan to have one of them relocate their practice to the health centre. We’d also like to tell you what the doctors are saying about the VIHA’s request to have some of them work urgent care hours, a key to keeping the centre open for all those hours and providing the service VIHA has said it will provide.
Considering only a few doctors are actually accepting new patients in our district — none in Parksville — we’re guessing local doctors have their plates more than full and simply cannot commit to working urgent care hours at the new health centre. But that’s a guess, educated or not.
Unfortunately, at this point, we are unable to present to readers the doctors’ position on these issues.
We get that — just because a reporter calls doesn’t mean a comment or position needs to be immediately provided.
We do hope, however, the doctors will soon let the public know where they’re at on these important issues. It’s an understatement to say they are key cogs to this health centre wheel.
— Editorial by John Harding
