A petition with more than 1027 signatures appealing to retain medical services in Prince Rupert and presented to the city council will be forwarded to the Minister of Health, Adrian Dix.
“This is a grassroots petition showing the minister of health and Northern Health that the people of Prince Rupert are concerned about losing services,” Counc. Barry Cunningham said.
Council members voted at the regular meeting on June 13 to forward the written request presented by corporate administrator Rosa Miller at the May 30 meeting.
Miller said the petition for action from concerned community members was urging the region’s leaders to ensure a highly functional hospital. It asked for the continuation of internal services such as orthopedics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, ENT, and other visiting specialist services which are currently maintained at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital.
“The patient transport situation between Prince Rupert and Terrace is treacherous in the winter months, making it very difficult for patients to leave the community for health care needs,” Miller read from the petition.
At the June 13 meeting, Cunningham further explained with the construction of the new Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, people have voiced concerns to him. City residents are nervous about the difficulty of travelling 150 kilometres away and medical service quality being cut at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, he said.
“Northern Health has made some commitments, and then they change them. So, I think we have to get some definite answers from the Minister of Health, as well as Northern Health, about exactly what’s going to happen,” the councillor said.
“Over the last 15 to 20 years there’s been a lot of services either degraded or lost totally in our hospital,” he said, adding it is essential to get the message across to those in Victoria that city residents need good quality service to the whole region.
“With the growing demand on our industrial base some of our industrial partners are also nervous about diminishing services,” Cunningham said.
K-J Millar | Editor and Multimedia Journalist
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