A day for Statements, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice follows up on City Hall message with her own commentary on ER Closures

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After four days of ER Closure, it's a flurry of correspondences for the community first from City Hall this morning and now from North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice. 

The MLA who is also the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health provided a social media posting just before Noon today to share her concerns over the state of the situation at PRRH.

Her opening themes those that make note of the local concerns and the larger global focus of health care challenges.

I hear you; I see you and I recognize you are reeling with fear, anger, and frustration regarding Emergency Room closures at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital as well as learning that some local family doctors are retiring or moving on to other opportunities. 

This is a scary situation for all of us living in not just Prince Rupert, but other North Coast communities who rely on Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and Prince Rupert family doctors for primary care. My family of four is also losing our family doctor and so I can personally relate to your concerns as well in my capacity as your representative. 

I want to reassure you that EVERY effort continues to be made to fill vacant physician shifts to prevent emergency room closures at PRRH. Northern Health is continuously working to recruit physicians to the community, in a challenging and competitive national and international recruitment environment.

The remainder of her commentary recounts some of the work of the Provincial government on health issues and notes of plans to answer more questions in the future.

I’ll have more to elaborate on with answers to some of your questions soon. Healthcare is a top priority for our government. 

Rural healthcare is a passion and area of focus for me in my capacity as your MLA, as a Parliamentary Secretary and as a fellow resident living in Prince Rupert.

 I’m continuing to stand up for the health services we all rely on.

The Full social media post is available here.

More notes on Health Care in Prince Rupert can be reviewed through our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.