Editorial
Lane recently turned the ‘dreaded 60’ but was happy that he now qualified for the 30 per cent seniors discount at Value Village on Tuesdays. (Man, if that was the highlight of his birthday, the guy’s got issues; one being an uneventful life.)
The father of two does his fair share of complaining about politicians, nonsensical rap music hijacking award shows, and shoppers coughing in his face.
But his latest pet peeve is Canada’s health care system, specifically the wait times to receive any type of service. He was beguiled in thinking that a sparsely attended hospital waiting room would mean a quick visit; in and out within 30 minutes. (Try not to laugh too hard.) Anyway, it took two hours and Lane left in frustration since the doctor couldn’t do anything for his condition.
Now the old guy is left waiting to see a specialist who still hasn’t called to set up an appointment (it has been over a month since the referral). Meanwhile, he has to suffer through the pain.
While Lane is lucky to have a family doctor in the first place, he and countless other patients should not be left dangling or falling through the cracks.
Hospitals continue to be overrun and some emergency departments continue to be temporarily shut down due to lack of coverage by physicians. This is unacceptable.
Fortunately, Invermere and District Hospital hasn’t experienced this problem, which would be devastating since the nearest hospital is in Cranbrook (more than an hour away). But a recent report presented to the Regional District of East Kootenay indicates the Invermere hospital is a very busy facility: more than 10,300 recorded visits (an average of 29 per day) between April 2023 and March 2024. Of concern is that nearly 35 per cent of these emergency visits were people without family doctors; another problem that the province needs to address.
Physician recruitment continues to be a struggle in the Columbia Valley and most other regions in B.C. There just doesn’t seem to be enough to go around, and many towns and villages suffer from a lack of doctors willing to set up in rural areas.
Back to Invermere, the report to the RDEK indicates that additional funding and staffing are needed to increase the hospital’s capacity. If this doesn’t happen, there is a risk of patient overflow into hallways and unmonitored rooms, according to the report.
Invermere’s population continues to grow, and its tourist season in the summer really taxes the hospital’s resources, particularly the current team of physicians that are burdened with more tasks.
The situation definitely needs some surgery, but like the countless patients out there, it may have to ‘take a number.’
Lyonel Doherty, editor
