Merritt, Salmon Arm emergency departments to receive $7.5M from province for physician coverage
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MERRITT, B.C. — Emergency departments in Merritt and Salmon Arm are getting a funding boost to help stabilize their physician coverage.
In a news release issued Wednesday (Oct. 18), the B.C. government says it’s providing $7.5 million in permanent funding for Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre in Merritt, the Shuswap Lake General Hospital in Salmon Arm and South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver.
The province says Interior Health is working with local physicians on the three service contracts for emergency services at the hospitals. It says the new contracts will help its efforts to recruit more physicians in rural communities as they will compensate them for their time spent at the hospital caring for patients with complex and time-intensive needs.
“These significant investments will help stabilize emergency-department services due to staffing shortages in Oliver, Merritt and Salmon Arm,” Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen says. “Our acute-care centres are essential for ensuring residents get the care they need, when they need it, and close to home. This new service contract with physicians, along with the multitude of other current actions, will support our health-care professionals and build a stronger foundation for a more reliable and stronger rural health-care system.”
