I join with hundreds of others in this province who suffer the extremely disturbing pain of a worn-out hip. I am 87 years old and all my life I have never spent any amount on health except for a minor surgery on my wrist and nominal visits to the physician. In addition, I have, for 50 or more years, paid all health charges required by the government.
Now in a single moment of need for surgery on my hip, I call for assistance from the government, but that government is not there to provide the needed assistance. It is totally unacceptable that a country such as Canada should be so utterly negligent in the provision of essential health service. Everyone who has experienced the need of hip replacement will appreciate the often excruciating pain and lack of mobility.
The time to fund the Interior Health Authority to complete the construction at the Vernon Jubilee Hospital — finish and open the new, projected in-patient wards and operating rooms and provide the staff in the new Tower of Care – is now.
Harold Barclay
Vernon
