(Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).

By Zachary Stewart-Q101

Nicola Valley Hospital

Mayor Goetz optimistic about the future of health care in Merritt after phone call with B.C. health minister

Mar 16, 2023 | 9:58 AM

MERRITT, B.C. — Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz had a long-awaited phone call with B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix that left him feeling optimistic about the future of the Nicola Valley Hospital.

“[Dix] was nice enough to call me and we went through a bunch of stuff,” Goetz says. “I let him know that I was fairly dissatisfied with what was happening and he agreed that it needs to be looked into.”

Through a collaboration between the province and the City, Goetz says the work has ramped up to fix the ongoing emergency department closures at the hospital.

“We have come to an agreement that we will work together,” Goetz says. “He recognizes that Merritt is in a tough spot, and he has his full team on it. He hears my concerns and I hear his concerns. Dix let us know that he is well aware of what is happening here in the city and his staff is doubling their efforts to make sure this is fixed.”

Goetz says having the closures not only impacts the health and safety of the residents, but it also has a wider range of impact throughout the city.

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“I let him know that the highway kind of changes how we function in the city,” he says. “I told him that this has started to impact our economic development as well. He has assured me, and gave me his personal number, for anybody that has a concern about investing or moving to Merritt that he would take a call and speak to them directly and assure to them that with the City, mayor and council’s help, Interior Health Authority (IHA), and his ministry, that we will get this fixed in the next little while.”

The City has some other influential voices in their corner helping them with the goal of increasing health care in Merritt.

“I did make the phone call to Shirley Bond, who is the BC Liberal Health Critic, and I feel like that helped a lot,” Goetz adds. “If you know anything about Shirley Bond, Shirley has been around for a long time and she’s able to get her opinions out there quite quickly. Then Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart made some comments yesterday, so she is involved in this process.”

Since the beginning of 2023, the emergency department at the Nicola Valley Hospital has already closed seven times, compared to eight times in all of 2022.

“When the minister calls and we can talk, not face-to-face but phone-to-phone, it’s good to have this happen. We’ve had the conversation and I’m looking forward to working with [Dix’s] ministry and IHA to get this fixed.”