North Island MLA Claire Trevena is calling on the Vancouver Island Health Authority to find a permanent solution for emergency care at Port Hardy hospital.
 
“The people of Port Hardy have been living for years with on again off again openings of the emergency room at their hospital: that is not the way to provide health care for a community,” said Trevena.
 
“Many of those who need health care use the emergency room because they have no access to a family doctor and do not have a vehicle to go to another community. The health outcomes in the North Island are already among some of the lowest in the province, but for VIHA the answer is to take away the one service many people rely on.”
 
Trevena has written to the President and CEO of VIHA asking him to ensure that the emergency room stays open.
 
She has suggested that VIHA look at appointing an emergency room physician - someone whose job it is to keep the emergency room staffed - as well as working with the federal government to make sure that all North Island communities are getting appropriate assistance.
 
“We are constantly fighting for nurses, for doctors and for people in Victoria to understand that having to leave your community for health care is often difficult and expensive. The answer to health care delivery in Port Hardy is not to shut the emergency room, but to ensure that people have access to care,” said Trevena.
 
VIHA has a great opportunity to provide the community with certainty when it holds its meeting in the North Island next week.