IHA offers Castlegarians an apology

by Contributor on 07 Feb 2012

An open letter to the community of Castlegar;

Interior Health would like to apologize to the residents of Castlegar and area for not properly informing you of the temporary closure of the emergency department last Saturday.

Interior Health has contingency plans in place when facing a service interruption like this, which includes notifying community officials, the public, and the media as soon as possible. Normally, a public service announcement is issued, advising the community of the temporary closure with clear alternatives for people who require care. This did not happen in this case, and for that Interior Health sincerely apologizes.

While this was the first time we have had an interruption to emergency department services in Castlegar, we are currently reviewing our processes to ensure timely notifications are in place should we be faced with this type of situation in the future.

Interior Health’s priority is to prevent any future service interruptions and we remain committed to providing residents of Castlegar and area with access to quality emergency services.

Sincerely,

Diane Gagnon,

Community Integrated Health Services Administrator

Kootenay Boundary

Comments

HealthWatch?

by CK on 10 Feb 2012 at about 10:49.

I'm just wondering if the HealthWatch group is still around...Castlegar needs this advocacy group more than ever!

Why did this get voted down?

by CK on 13 Feb 2012 at about 09:20.

It was a valid question! I'm really puzzled. Can someone please enlighten me why having a healthcare advocacy group in Castlegar (who was against the closures of the Castlegar Hospital) so bad?

I think the IHA employs about

by Leperman on 17 Feb 2012 at about 02:23.

I think the IHA employs about four or five professional PR people, not including their support staff. Just another cost that never existed before the IHA was made and an example of where the money goes that used to go to beds and hospitals.

I'm sure they monitor all the news and comments like these and the truth hurts hence the thumbs down.

From the editor: Please clarify

by Kyra Hoggan on 13 Feb 2012 at about 13:35.

I'm sorry, CK, but I don't follow you - what got voted down, and where, and by whom?

Who is saying that an advocacy group is a bad thing?

Where are you getting this?

Regards,

Kyra Hoggan

Editor

the thumbs up/down next to the comments

by ssanders (not verified) on 13 Feb 2012 at about 14:03.

I think CK was referring to the vote(thumbs) up/down next to the comments.

It is not just Castlegar people voting

by ssanders (not verified) on 13 Feb 2012 at about 13:26.

I agree that Castlegar needs health care advocacy now more than ever.

As for being voted down, don't forget that our comments appear on the Trail, Nelson and Rossland on-line papers from Lonesheep Publishing and there are people who feel what is good for Castlegar may be bad for them.

And HealthWatch group may have been seen as upsetting a few local officials "delicate negotiations" as well - not by my account though.

thanks for that!

by CK on 13 Feb 2012 at about 14:57.

Yes, I did wonder why my comments got the thumbs down (sorry, I should've been more specific). I know for me, personally, it's easy to take the thumbs down personally! Thanks for the insight into this.

Abomination

by Leperman on 09 Feb 2012 at about 19:46.

They should be sorry for getting rid of Castlegars hospital in the first place. It was the only West Kootenay hospital to consistently run in the black, partly thanks to Mr Talerico, the best hospital administrator in the West Kootenay has seen in 30 years.

The IHA closed many beds and hospitals and took that money from real health care only to hire an army of administrators. This is in spite of these massive cuts they didn't save taxpayers a penny.

BC should follow Alberta's lead, as they did to get into this ridiculous health "authority" fiasco, and get rid of the Health Authorities ASAP. Then we could take the money wasted by administration and direct it back into real health care.

We're all mad here!

by CordLaFond on 08 Feb 2012 at about 06:50.

This flagrant offense is worthy of serious disciplinary action for the person responsible. "We're sorry," just isn't enough. "We'll do it more efficiently next time," is a slap in the face. Someone at minimum broke serious protocol - at most commited criminal negligence.

It isn't so much that I want someone to 'pay for what they did' but more that I would like to receive clear confirmation that the closure was a violation of contractual and moral obligation. Someone clearly did not do their job and there needs to be serious consequences for putting us at risk. A suspension or termination would be appropriate, perhaps even criminal charges.

It has been said that it happened over staffing issues. Balderdash! There has to be provision to call staff in from at least as far as the public is expected to commute. At any cost staffing issues need to be resolved; be it paying someone overtime to work an extra shift of having someone commute from Trail or Nelson. Whatever the issue is, it is an unacceptable instance of poor management.

We pay the same taxes and deserve the same level of care as the rest of the province.

I think I'm even more mad

by Meagan Salekin on 07 Feb 2012 at about 20:57.

I think I'm even more mad now. IHA is apologizing for not communicating about the closure - not the fact that they closed our ER. And saying they'll do better the next time this happens is way beyond unacceptable. This should NEVER happen again.

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