I recently met with my orthopedic surgeon to see what the outcome would be about a letter sent to him from my physiotherapist stating that my condition had deteriorated to the point that walking had become unsafe.
In the letter, she requested that I be put on the urgent list for surgery.
I was appalled to hear that he has more than 200 on his waiting list. I was also told that he has surgery after surgery cancelled because of lack of beds in recovery.
Vernon Jubilee Hospital has had chronic overcrowding on a continued basis for far too long.
In part, the overcrowding is because of seniors that have been hospitalized and now have nowhere to go because of the lack of care homes for them.
When will this stop with more and more cancellations and more and more seniors?
When will people like myself ever get the surgery they need?
It is a well-known fact that the millions of dollars spent on the the new tower of care at VJH will leave two floors for beds to be finished at a later date. We need them now.
The longer the wait list for surgeries and the overcrowding goes on, the more seniors will die from infections picked up in the hospital and the more emergencies will happen to replace broken bones that have occurred from the hundreds that have had falls while waiting for joint replacements.
Would it not make sense for the government to quit having senseless elections that cost millions of dollars and instead put that much-needed money into health care?
The problem at VJH is chronic and needs to be fixed now.
Sharon Eby
Vernon
