Fair Care Alliance, a relatively new Nanaimo advocacy group, held its first press conference Wednesday to demand improvements to health care facilities.
This follows the recent launch of a media campaign that includes two billboards near Nanos Bay and in the Cowichan Valley, advocacy videos on social media and an online petition.
Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) says it urgently needs a new catheter lab and a new patient tower for cardiac procedures.
They are also trying to mobilize people living in central and northern Vancouver Island to put pressure on the province and help implement the plan.
“Closet and storage spaces are being used for patient care, and patients are being crammed into spaces that have been converted into Nightingale wards, open rooms reminiscent of the early 20th century. There is no privacy in these spaces,” said Dr. David Forrest, an infectious disease and critical care specialist at NRGH.
“We lack modern hospitals that can provide safe medical care. This is a matter of human dignity,” said radiologist David Coupland, president of NRGH's medical staff association.
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Doctors at NRGH say the best ways to treat heart attacks have been known for 20 years, but are only offered on the island in Victoria, leading to less than optimal outcomes and sometimes even death.
“So why are patients given exclusive access to primary PCI, while the majority of the island's population receives a less effective, higher-risk blockage removal treatment first developed in the 1970s?” said Dr. Neil Schwartz, former chief of internal medicine at NRGH and spokesman for the Fair Care Alliance.
They say NRGH should get a second cath lab because of its proximity to island residents – two reviews had already said one was needed in 2006. On top of that, there are only two cardiologists working north of Victoria.
“That's a shockingly low number, probably one of the worst in the country,” Swartz said of per capita insurance coverage.
One doctor said several years ago he prescribed one of his heart attack patients a clog remover — the best option in Nanaimo — only for it to prove ineffective.
“We were informed that this patient was dying from an internal brain bleed, something that should never happen,” said Dr. Jodie Turner, a member of the NRGH emergency medicine team.
Sadly, the patient passed away.
“… And I met with the family and apologized and told them we're going to do everything we can to do better,” Turner said.
Island Health said in a statement it recognises the need to invest in and improve services in all regions, and the coalition hopes its campaign ahead of the next provincial election will encourage states north of the Malahat to improve health care and accelerate that process.
“We're building a new hospital in Cowichan. We're building a new cancer centre in Nanaimo,” said British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix, pointing to other health-care spending by the NDP government north of Malahat Island.
“We know we need to do more, which is why we're hiring more health care workers everywhere, including here, to make sure people get the care they need.”
The Fair Care Alliance, which was formed earlier this year, is urging concerned residents to contact their MLA.
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