This is an open letter to Premier Christy Clark:
I have used the excellent inpatient services of the Penticton Regional Hospital six weeks since 2006, not to mention emergency, oncology, CT and MRI scans and EEG visits. I have been very impressed with the level of care and caring, but not blind to the fact that this hospital is well past its due date. In 1951, it was built to serve 10,000; in 2013, it serves 90,000.
Currently B.C. spends about 43 per cent of its budget on health-related needs, with an anticipated 20 per cent increase in seniors and their attending health needs. This hospital desperately needs to be recognized for the value-added contribution it makes to the quality of the lives of our citizens. Major upgrades and expansion is needed; property for same has been offered, yet there still is no firm commitment by your government to take immediate and long-term planning and action to alleviate this situation.
Your government found $273 million to build a prison in Oliver. One of the reasons was to generate jobs. I suggest to you that this money would have been better spent meeting the more immediate needs of local citizens. It would have provided much-needed employment in construction, support and related health services for years to come by expanding and upgrading the Penticton hospital.
Laurie Rockwell
Summerland