Fraser Health officials met with Delta council members Monday to discuss Delta Hospital's current and potential future role in the regional network, but nothing is being offered when it comes to the surgical unit.
Health region officials, accompanied by hospital administration, participated in an afternoon session at municipal hall, explaining the hospital's current role as well as the planning priorities, which are still in draft form but could see facility upgrades and an expansion of services.
During council's evening meeting, Coun. Jeannie Kanakos noted they also discussed the hospital's surgical unit, but nowhere in the long-range plan is there mention of restoring the unit to its previous level, nor has Fraser Health indicated it's open to considering it.
Mayor Lois Jackson said the meeting was a lengthy one, lasting about two hours, and she found it "interesting and concerning."
Council voted in favour of a motion by Coun. Sylvia Bishop to ask Fraser Health to hold community meetings and to also get a civic staff report, which could lead to further action by Delta.
Last fall, the Delta Hospital Medical Staff Association raised concerns about the surgical program, which does not operate at the same level as the other hospitals in the region.
In Delta, operating rooms close at 3 p.m., which means those who require urgent procedures are out of luck if they show up after hours or close to closing time. They have to be transferred to another hospital. In a letter to Health Minister Terry Lake, the doctors cited several examples of patients sent away for produces that could have easily been performed in Delta. Those patients are not getting the timely care by being transferred elsewhere, doctors said.
The doctors described the situation as "a crisis" and that the surgical program is in "imminent danger of imploding" because operating rooms aren't available for emergency surgeries 24 hours a day like at other hospitals. They had a couple of meetings since raising their concern, but nothing was offered by the health region.
The newly formed citizens' group Friends of Delta Hospital has also been lobbying for improved services and the group's Doug Massey spoke at Delta council's question period several weeks ago.
Friends of Delta Hospital recently issued a "summary document" aimed at highlighting the challenges the hospital currently faces. Issued by group member Gord Freeborn, Delta's former fire chief, the document notes the communities of Delta and Tsawwassen First Nation want and need a fully functioning community-based hospital that can provide secondary care, as was provided up to the early part of the past decade.
According to the overview health officials provided council this week, Delta Hospital has 58 "acute care beds in medicine" as well other services, but in an interview last fall, one doctor noted those beds can't really be described as acute. Instead, they are more like rest beds for those coming out of day surgery.
