A Trail City Councillor is speaking out against the planned closure of the 3rd floor lab at the downtown medical building.
Thia Hanson’s real estate office is beside the lab slated to close at the end of next month and says the reaction to Friday’s announcement by Interior Health has been swift, wide-spread and emotional.
“I have been hearing from doctors, I have been hearing from patients, I have been hearing from staff just how upset (they are), people have been leaving in tears,” she described, noting that getting lab service is already difficult for many who need it.
“Senior patients that can barely even get just to the elevator, to get upstairs into the lab for blood work, they’ve been so upset and so disheartened with this choice without having any public notice or consultation,” Hanson added.
Interior Health stated that staff is needed for emergencies and patients admitted to Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital and they would assist outpatients make the transition to the Life Labs outlet in Waneta Plaza.
The hospital will also provide pre-surgical outpatient services and lab work for patients with acute conditions like renal care and cancer.
Hanson says the already challenged parking situation at the hospital will get worse by sending staff and more patients to the facility for lab work and will make it tougher for vulnerable residents.
“There’s people with mobility issues, people that don’t have vehicles, that don’t travel, that take busses or walk that live in our downtown core, they now can’t get their blood work done,” she explained.
The new integrated community health centre is slated to open next month in the medical building and Hanson says having the lab there is integral to the facility’s multi-faceted health care model.
“Now you have to go elsewhere at a different time for a basic lab test, it’s not just inconvenient, it’s inefficient, it’s going to be confusing for patients and it directly contradicts the purpose of integrated care,” Hanson added.
The city councillor has expressed her concerns to MLA Steve Morissette, but Hanson feels the protest has to move up the political and medical food chains.
“It needs to go to Premier Eby, it needs to go to Josie Osborne, Minister of Health, it needs to go to Susan Brown, the C-E-O of Interior Health,” emphasized Hanson.
She is also encouraging anyone opposed to the move to log on to the Interior Health Board of Directors meeting starting at 5 p.m. on Wed.
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