Prince Rupert residents have every right to be frustrated with the state of health care in the city.
Emergency room closures, unavailability of ambulances and a shortage of doctors and other health care providers all add up to a recipe for anger.
We should be careful where we direct that anger.
The province, the city, the Northern Health Authority, even the health care providers themselves make convenient scapegoats.
But this is an extremely complex problem that is not unique to healthcare. Recruiting, retention, burnout, are all issues that exacerbate themselves.
In the newspaper business, we face many of the same issues.
The difference is the consequences might lead to some bad grammar, not covering a story we maybe should have covered or not covering it as well as we could have, maybe even an inaccurate statement.
In the end, no big deal.
In health care, though, the consequences can be life and death.
The stakes are high, but the entities responsible for health care are between a rock and a hard place. This is not just a Prince Rupert problem, or even a northern problem. It is a provincial, national and global problem.
There are things that governments and health authorities can do. Train and hire more nurse practitioners, optimize the working conditions for health care professionals, innovate alternative solutions and make our communities more attractive.
But even under the best of circumstances, this situation is not going to be solved any time soon.
In the meantime, those of us in good, or relatively good, health should be thinking about what we can do to take pressure off the system so that those who have critical or chronic conditions don’t get left out in the cold.
We can all do our part by availing ourselves of existing alternatives. The Northern Health virtual clinic has great hours and appointments are usually very prompt. Pharmacists now have greater breadth in the medications they can prescribe directly. Northern Health has a whole suite of digital health services on its website.
And if we are forced into a situation where a trip to the ER is necessary, as difficult as it may be, we can be patient and kind. The healthcare workers we do have probably care more than we give them credit for, and they are doing their best in less-than-ideal circumstances. They don’t deserve any additional, unnecessary stress.