SOUND OFF: Shuswap health care not a priority for the NDP

In 2017, medical staff developed a modernization plan, the OR Redesign Project, which was submitted to Interior Health capital planning for consideration and prioritization. In 2022, the team got word from Interior Health that it had been approved for $1 million for a formal planning phase — but that funding was quickly withdrawn within a couple of months. Interior Health had backtracked, and while there was a bit of money for some operating room renovations, all other complementary projects were scrapped.

Meantime, as your MLA for Shuswap, it has been incredibly frustrating to continually be put off by Health Minister Adrian Dix. I’ll give you an example. During the recent spring legislative session, I had the opportunity to directly question the minister on the many health-care challenges in the Shuswap during his ministry’s budget estimates process. Although some answers were provided, there was limited time for exhaustive responses — so Dix promised me a meeting in short order to discuss this backtracking on funding for the hospital, as well as sustainable support funding for the North Shuswap and South Shuswap medical centres. But Dix and his office have been ghosting my requests for six weeks.

Not only is this NDP government sidelining critical hospital improvements in the Shuswap, it is demonstrating exceptional incompetence on the health care projects it is moving forward with. When we look at the Cowichan Hospital project, which is covered by the NDP’s discriminatory Community Benefits Agreement, we see that it’s three years behind schedule and $850 million over budget — the most expensive hospital project of its kind in Canada. The NDP appear to be content with that massive budget bloat and timeline delay, so long as their big union friends stand to benefit over non-union contractors who aren’t eligible to apply to work on the project.

As the NDP wastes a massive amount of money in one part of the province, the Shuswap region continues to wait for help. But patients and their families can’t afford to wait much longer. Minister Dix might be able to avoid my calls, but he simply cannot ignore the warnings of courageous and caring doctors like Scott McKee who say the current situation is unsustainable and putting patient safety at risk.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo

SOUND OFF: Shuswap health care not a priority for the NDP

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