Emergency room entrance at the Nicola Valley Regional Hospital (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Merritt mayor pushes province to lift vaccine mandate, health minister says ‘no’

Jan 27, 2023 | 3:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — The mayor of Merritt Mike Goetz says there’s a quick solution to the recent closures at the emergency room, which has been shut down four times since Christmas due to staffing shortages.

He says if the province lifted the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, it would allow more healthcare workers to fill the current void.

“You’ve got to look at anything that’s going to help,” Goetz told CFJC Today. “Any idea that’s on the table really should’ve be too crazy. We’re into year three of this now. Most of us have learned how to live with this disease. A lot of us have had it. I’ve had it.”

After the mandate was implemented, 895 healthcare workers within Interior Health lost their jobs (66 at RIH and 173 at Kelowna General Hospital).

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Goetz, who admitted he’s vaccinated, is trying to push the idea ahead with the B.C. Rural Health Care Alliance.

“The idea of an unvaccinated nurse or doctor treating me wouldn’t affect me at all,” he said. “When you get groceries at the store or you get served by a server at a restaurant, do you know whether they’re vaccinated or not?”

B.C. is one of few province to maintain the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In an interview with health minister Adrian Dix, he told CFJC Today it won’t be lifted anytime soon.

“It’s not going to be dropped,” Dix said over Zoom. “The issue, with great respect to the mayor, isn’t COVID-19 rules; it’s COVID-19. The most vulernable people in all of B.C. with COVID-19 are people in hospital. They’re the most vulnerable people and we have an obligation to ensure they get the care they need.”

Goetz responded, “It’s at least the start of the solution. It would be better if Minister Dix actually said, ‘We’re considering it.’ At least make out like you’re thinking of something, but if you’re going to deny it outright, at least have another plan to present, so we know you have a plan.”

Last summer, the B.C. Liberals put forward a plan called a “Pathway Back to Employment,” allowing more unvaccinated people back to work.

“If you look across the country, the vast majority of jurisdictions have already done that,” noted B.C. Liberal health critic Shirley Bond. “So what we’re saying is let’s have that conversation. Let’s have a discussion about what a pathway for return to work looks like. There are significant impacts for rural communities.”

During her visit to Kamloops on Thursday, Interior Health CEO Susan Brown was asked her opinion on lifting the vaccine mandate.

“Certainly we did lose staff when the public health order came forward, as all health authorities did. The only message I could say, if that order changes, we would embrace any staff member to come back,” noted Brown.

Back in Merritt, Goetz says the idea is garnering more support in the community.

“At some point, we have to go back to allowing unvaccinated people to get back into the world. How long do you hold off on this for?” he said.