Yesterday, my husband and I spent seven- and-a-half hours in the emergency ward of the Shuswap Lake General Hospital. Most of that time was spent waiting. After an X-ray and a CT scan, we were told my husband had a serious and possibly life-threatening condition, but there were no beds available in the wards and the bed he was occupying was now needed for another emergency patient.
As my husband had not eaten that day and it was now 5 p.m., we were told we could stay in the ward and be served hospital food, or go out to eat. We chose to go home to eat (in town and only a few minutes away) and be back within an hour or so, which we did. On our return, however, we were told there were no beds available in the emergency ward or others as they had just received five ambulance deliveries for emergency care. In fact, we were told the hospital was “more than full.”
All this makes one wonder how Christy Clark managed to be elected on a “Families First” agenda when our medical system cannot afford to create more beds with more nurses to attend them, yet they can afford to spend billions of dollars on the Site C dam which is not needed, but will mean the death of valuable agricultural land?
The Shuswap Lake General Hospital serves a large area where the population is growing fast, as well as being situated on the Trans-Canada Highway where numerous traffic accidents happen.
Why is the B.C. government treating our only hospital as a “small town” institution? We need more beds and the nurses to serve them, and fast!
Margaret Zsadanyi
