It wasn`t long ago our community was faced with a doctor shortage. After taking great strides in recruiting new doctors to our area, we began to build, and since complete, a new medical building.
Now we are facing yet another problem: we are beginning to have a critical shortage of laboratory staff. This is leaving our lab, which is vital to our community, in jeopardy.
Why are we losing our lab techs and what is being done to bring more in? How is it possible for our community to function as an acute care centre with a shortage of lab staff? Has Sunrise Health Region taken any measures to notify our community that it is renovating our hospital to accommodate the Stepping Stone Wellness Centre, currently our methadone and addictions centre? Sunrise is not just providing a one-day service at the Kamsack Hospital, but is now offering more days along with meals being provided.
I would like to know if these meals are not being prepared in our hospital where are they coming from. I would hope they contacted our local restaurants and grocery stores to be given the opportunity to provide their services.
Sunrise Health Region is not providing our methadone and addictions people with any privacy that they deserve as this program is in our local hospital where there is an excessive amount of people in the waiting room at all times.
If Sunrise would put it elsewhere it would be more private for them, the blood draws and urinalysis could be done on site and be transferred to the lab for processing, giving them the privacy they deserve.
Due to the shortage of lab techs and increase of the methadone and addictions centre to increase to more than one day, we all are going to find it difficult to use our diagnostic facility to get routine bloodwork and or X-rays done.
Citizens of Kamsack and area need to be informed and should be involved in every decision Sunrise Health Region is doing to our local hospital.
We have spent how much money on a new medical building and for them to put our hospital in jeopardy is not a welcoming issue as this is not only going to cause issues for our methadone and addictions centre to function but for anyone to have routine bloodwork done.
I understand it is vital to offer a methadone and addictions centre in our community as addictions are on the rise, but my concern is: Why has Sunrise taken unnecessary money of which it claims there is a shortage, and spends it on renovating our hospital when it has an office building that was perfectly functional or (could have) used our old medical office downtown which is close to the drug stores?
I am here to express not only my concerns but the concerns of everyone that this affects.
How can we keep providing a service in all areas without sacrificing any of the services we currently provide?
Contact Sunrise Health Region before it’s too late.
Deanna Bodnarek
Kamsack
