Tag Archives: Campbell River Hospital

Health

BC’s Rural Emergency Room Crisis

An alarming trend to watch.

Editor’s note: During a protest over closures at North Island ERs, Adriane Gear VP of the BC Nurses Union told CHEK NEWS, “Our nurses are very worried. The Campbell River Hospital, I understand at any given time could be at 140%, 145% capacity, and at the same time there’s maybe only 60% to 70% of the nurses that would be normally scheduled to work.”  

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The province’s emergency rooms are in crisis.

ERs across the Lower Mainland have made the news for being at capacity and past their breaking points. This overcrowding led to the death of an infant in 2020 and a senior in 2022.

Doctors have even been urging people to stay away and seek help elsewhere. In the Lower Mainland one in 10 patients are leaving ERs without seeing a doctor, according to reporting by CTV. 

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Health

Paramedic shortages still plague rural areas, but some remedies may be in the works

Editor’s note: According to BC Emergency Health Service, this does not apply to Cortes Island which is allegedly “well staffed with all 4 Scheduled On-call (SOC) positions filled and 3 on call staff.  SOC shifts are 24-hour shifts. Paramedics are at the station from 8am to 4pm, and carry a pager outside those hours.”

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Quadra Island resident Carol Woolsey had the misfortune to experience a medical emergency in her rural community last month after the last ferry had sailed for the night. 

After developing searing pain in her lower abdomen, the77-year-old and her cousin called911 around 10 p.m. on April 2. 

Disoriented by pain and vomiting constantly into her kitchen sink, it seemed to Woolsey it was taking forever for paramedics to arrive. She was relieved to see two people come through the door around 20 minutes later. 

However, relief turned to alarm when she learned the two were local volunteer firefighters responding because there were no paramedics available on the island. Woolsey had to wait for a crew to come by water taxi from Campbell River. 

Continue reading Paramedic shortages still plague rural areas, but some remedies may be in the works →
Politics

SRD Board: How can electoral areas opt out of services?

Will the SRD set up a transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island?

There has been friction between some of the Strathcona Regional Districts rural areas and municipalities in the past. This was thought to have ended with the new board, but there have been a couple of recent occasions when the electoral areas felt their wishes were being overridden. In both cases, this pertained to research rather than policy.  Electoral Areas A and D were not allowed to withdraw from the feasibility studies for a proposed transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island. None of the Electoral Areas were interested in having their Fire Departments come under the administration of a proposed Fire Chief for the SRD.  

Thus at the Board’s Feb 2 meeting, Regional Director Gerald Whalley of Area A announced, “The electoral areas have come to the unanimous conclusion that we are being unfairly treated by the Board. Therefore, I move that the Board convene an open mediated service review as soon as possible. And if I have a second for this motion, I will speak to it .”  

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Health

B.C. health minister announces $30 million to address health-care crisis in North Island

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced a $30-million infusion to tackle the health-care crisis in North Island communities.

The money, a mix of one-time capital investments and operating funding, will drive a range of measures to immediately stabilize health-care services across the region and in the communities of Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Alert Bay, Dix said Friday.

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Politics

Final meeting of the outgoing SRD Board

The outgoing Strathcona Regional District Board held its final meeting on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. This is the first time that most of the Directors have met around the table since the pandemic began. They shared their thoughts about the election and the preceding term, at a Directors Roundtable.

Continue reading Final meeting of the outgoing SRD Board →