Continued pressure and activism are needed to push for the restoration of Delta Hospital’s surgical program.
That was the message to the more than 250 people who attended a Friends of Delta Hospital community meeting at the Ladner Community Centre Saturday afternoon.
Members of the advocacy group and guest speakers, including several doctors at the hospital, spoke on how the hospital has been underserved, not getting its fair share of an acute care budget compared to other hospitals in similar sized communities that have hospitals.
The speakers also included Friends of Delta Hospital co-founder Doug Massey, Delta Coun. Heather King and others.
MLAs Vicki Huntington and Scott Hamilton also spoke.
Huntington noted the community needs to get together as it did over a decade ago to fight for the facility. Hamilton noted a meeting will be arranged with Health Minister Terry Lake to discuss the issue.
Unlike other hospitals in the region, the operating rooms in Delta close at 3 p.m., which means people arriving too late but needing urgent emergency procedures have to be transferred by ambulance to other facilities that might have room. Fraser Health has indicated situation won’t be changing anytime soon. The surgical program was cut by the region as a budgetary move over a decade ago and never fully restored.
More to come.
