Health scare or health care?

Everyday it becomes more and more frightening to be living along number 13 highway. A long a busy road with no emergency health care available. And things have just gotten worse. Not only is the hospital in Redvers not open for business but that community will be losing their lone doctor at the end of April. As you travel west from Redvers things continue to deteriorate further. Arcola Health Centre has been closed since late December - Merry Christmas! And will remain closed indefinitely. The culprit - doctor shortage.

Access to emergency services has reached a critical point, and as residents we need to voice loudly how we feel about the services provided to our area. What is happening to all of us in this health district has become less than unacceptable.

Mr. Wall, pay attention, we are one of the busiest areas of the province. This issue is not going to go away. We will not be ignored.

Mr. Wall, if you book a doctor's appointment, how long do you have to wait? If you are suffering chest pain and shortness of breath - how far do you have to drive? Your child has fallen, is bleeding and possibly has a broken leg - an hour to the nearest emergency room you say? Oh, you don't really need a doctor, the ambulance staff are perfectly capable of handling every situation. Well, Mr. Wall, all the ambulances have been called out, I suppose we will have to wait for the first responders from another community.

Mr. Wall we face these situations every day. And people have quietly gone about their business and patiently wait for things to get better. Along the number 13 highway from Stoughton to Redvers we will soon be left with 1.5 doctors serving the area.

Mr. Wall, I don't want to drive for an hour for a doctor's appointment. Currently people drive from Carlyle to Estevan to see a doctor, people from Estevan are driving to Regina to see a doctor, people from Redvers are driving to Moosomin to an already over-worked clinic.

The facilities in the Sun Country Health Region are not serving the needs of the taxpayers.

I hope in the coming weeks the residents of Sun Country will stand up and let the government know what is happening in this health district. I encourage everyone to write and call the Premier's office, the Hon. Dustin Duncan, Minister of Health, and the Hon. Randy Weekes, Minister of Rural and Remote Health. Call your MLA, Don Toth or Dan D'Autremont. We need to join together and be one large and loud voice. We need to be heard. Send your letters to the editor to The Observer, Box 160, Carlyle, SK S0C 0R0 or email us at [email protected]

Here are the telephone numbers to call: Premier Brad Wall - 787-9433; Hon. Dustin Duncan, Minister of Health - 787-7345; Hon. Randy Weekes, Minister of Rural and Remote Health - 798-9014; Don Toth - 787-4300; and Hon. Dan D'Autremont 787-2282.

Mr. Premier, we want health care for our families, we want a doctor we can call our family doctor, we want to have palliative care available when needed, we want our aging senior citizens to be able to stay in their communities with their families.

We have the physical facilities, we have the dedicated and strong nursing and support staff - we desperately need doctors. Not being able to provide services here in Sun Country and driving people to look outside the region is not helping anyone. We have to pull our heads of the sand. Just because people are finding services elsewhere does not mean things are great in Sun Country.

I don't know what the solutions are, I wish I did. But I do know the system we have now is not working and we need to voice our opinions and experiences to those with the power to make the changes necessary so it is no longer "health scare" but health care.

Thank you to our nurses, support staff and first responders - you all do a great job. And Dr. Meyer and Dr. Morin - thank you for all your work. I can't imagine the pressure our health care providers are under.

Please send in your letters and experiences and add to the voice asking for change.