Just what is Northern Health, the Liberal government and administration at St. John Hospital in Vanderhoof doing to help with the medical situation in Ft. St. James?
The reason I include Vanderhoof is that Stuart Lake Hospital (SLH) has always been a "satellite" of St. John Hospital and all decisions concerning the operation of SLH are made there.
SLH opened in May 1972 with 25 acute beds and OR and delivery room capability. It was a wonderful place to work, moral was great, meals were made from scratch and the hospital operated in the black. We had four or five doctors. who were able to use OR and delivery rooms. We were usually filled to capacity and very few patients were sent out. About 20 years later, rumors started that we would become a D&T centre.
Toady, the OR has been closed, acute beds reduced to five, with six Long Term Care and one Palliative Care Room. Most deliveries now go to Vanderhoof or Prince George. Doctors are down to one, who is doing his best to keep the Medical Clinic opened.
The Emergency Room is basically closed but is occasionally opened when there is a locum to staff it. If a person needs medical attention after hours ( or if you can't get an appointment with our one doctor at the clinic), it's off to Vanderhoof ER, 40 minutes away by car or ambulance depending on the situation. Now our only doctor is going on holiday and rumor has it that we may have the clinic staffed by locums once or twice a week.
I feel the medical situation here is waiting for a disaster to happen with three mills, a new mine under construction and a huge number of logging trucks on our roads.
It took a fire in Burns Lake to bring attention to their need for a new hospital. We were promised a new facility 10 years ago but instead got a new roof and electrical upgrade. A new facility would be more attractive to doctors looking to relocate.
Some people from Ft. St. James who have had to go to the ER in Vanderhoof for treatment overheard staff saying, "another person from Ft. St. James". Some people have managed to get a doctor in Fraser Lake (90 min. away), while the clinic in Vanderhoof, staffed by 14 to 16 doctors, will not accept anyone from Ft. St. James.
I feel that we, the people of Ft. St. James, are not receiving adequate health care and the parties overseeing this really don't care.
Sue Amyot
Fort St. James
