On March 5, I was diagnosed and advised that I had a hernia that needed surgery. My physician advised me that there was a six-month wait for surgery.
When I saw the surgeon a month or so later, I was advised that the wait time was now eight months.
I was told that the wait time for surgery was exacerbated by a decision to close operating rooms in the older part of the hospital for a month due to and prior to the impending move to the Polson tower.
I was also told that since the move, only four of seven operating rooms in the new tower are currently in use because of lack of funding by the government of B.C.
Vernon Jubilee Hospital has been in constant conditions of overcrowding, of horrendous waits in the emergency department and nursing shortages that are so dire, they will affect the health of those currently employed.
Representations have been made to complete the top two floors of the new tower, and since those representations, a two-year period of completion was predicted.
I do not think the current waiting times fall within the federal guidelines for surgical procedures.
Surely, funding for the opening of more surgical operating rooms and additional necessary nurses and technicians can be found to alleviate the pain and suffering of those waiting for surgery?
That, in my submission, is a government obligation and responsibility.
Further, it should be noted that the closing of operating rooms prior to the move to the new tower was a bureaucratic blunder.
Surely, those highly-paid administrators within Vernon Jubilee Hospital and the Interior Health Authority should be accountable and open to an independent audit of that decision.
The current situation is, and should be, an embarrassment to the current government.
Norm Schulz, Vernon
