The numbers don't paint a very flattering picture.
The standing room-only crowd that jammed the Ladner Community Centre last Saturday came indoors on a springlike afternoon because people in these parts have a deep affection for Delta Hospital. They feel a sense of ownership of their hospital and they wanted to show support for it as well as for the Friends of Delta Hospital, the advocacy group that hosted the forum and is spearheading the efforts to restore surgical services.
There was a lot of information for the audience to absorb as doctors, politicians and community activists took to the microphone, but it wasn't difficult to get the gist of the situation - Delta Hospital is being shortchanged and, by extension, so too are local residents.
Delta has six per cent of the region's population but receives just 1.8 per cent of Fraser Health's surgical funding, it has the fewest acute beds per capita in the province and of the 20 largest communities in B.C. based on population, Delta is the only one without an acute surgery program.
Those are disturbing statistics, to say the least, which is why a trio of doctors from the hospital took the courageous step of speaking out last Saturday, a move that surely must have drawn the ire of the powers that be at Fraser Health.
The doctors received a pair of standing ovations as the appreciative crowd recognized these medical professionals, the ones on the front lines on a daily basis, are only going public because they want to provide the best care possible for the people of this community.
Their plan to address the shortcomings, at least when it comes to the surgical program, sounds measured and eminently affordable, amounting to what's effectively pocket change for Fraser Health. Sadly, such rationale has failed to sway those that control the purse strings.
Instead, we get fed a line about how every hospital in the region plays a role in the health care network, a platitude that glosses over the glaring inequities that exist. The bottom line is that Delta doesn't have the beds or surgical services that we deserve, that we pay for and that every other community of this size enjoys.
Quite simply, that needs to change. The Fraser Health Authority doesn't seem the least bit interested in making that happen, so political pressure must be applied on those that oversee the health authority.
This community, which has a history of fighting for its hospital, needs to go to battle once again.
