Ms. Clark:
If time were a tradeable commodity we could all point to the waste and sadly shake our heads in frustrated bewilderment.
I am addressing the Emergency Room closures suffered by the community of Princeton B.C. Most would think that a major highway (3500 vehicles an hour during summer) would be a deterrent to closure of an essential service like emergency room coverage. People would also feel the same of a town with twenty-four hour industry. A mine and mill both run here 24/7.
Normally the powers that be would be enough to rectify this constitutionally illegal action. Indeed, your own minister of health issued a deadline of July 12th, 2012 for a resolution. It is now the 23rd and I write to you simply because Minister Michael de Jong’s underlings at the Interior Health Authority seem to think he wasn’t exactly serious.
Paperwork is unfinished. How does it work when a Ministerial deadline is ignored? Any other type of business would require a disciplinary action or dismissal.
Interior Health Authority hasn’t even done a shuffle, as government does to avoid bad press. It’s bad enough to run for cover. It is something else again to put constituents lives at risk nightly, and expect the same kind of protection as you try and sweep attention under the carpet.
I realize you may be a ‘busy’ person, however, as Premier of B.C. do you not have an obligation to the safety and well being of British Columbians?
The people of Princeton are not satisfied with partial E.R. coverage. Not while they pay taxes based upon 24/7 coverage. Perhaps the people of B.C. ought to have a tax rebate for services NOT rendered.
Again, a deadline was imposed by your minister and ignored. It sets a very dangerous precedent, don’t you think? If a minister of the province can be totally disregarded by the people who work for him direct, how is the rest of B.C. to take anything your government says seriously?
Any further delay will seemingly force the addition of lawyers into the mix. We all know how that goes, cameras, news stories and press that is unflattering at best, career crippling at worst.
I see two stances you can take, that of an out of touch health authority (eyes blind, ears deaf) or as an active concerned leader with the very real interest of B.C. voters in mind. It’s your choice, but it is our lives & health that hang in the balance. As you are the last possible human with the authority to fix this situation, I await your swift, competent solution.
Please respond A. S. A. P.
Darrell Dobie
Princeton, BC