A coalition of small-town mayors and politicians are uniting in hopes of tackling the urgent health-care crisis in rural communities across British Columbia.
Mayors Gaby Wickstrom of Port McNeill, Merlin Blackwell of Clearwater, and Lori Ackerman of Fort St. John are some of the municipal leaders asking peers to join a rural caucus to develop solutions and draw attention to the crisis.
Small communities are suffering severe and protracted shortages of doctors and nurses, increasing emergency room closures, an ailing primary care system and an immobilized ambulance service, Wickstrom said.
“We’re facing it all,” said Wickstrom, adding she hopes more municipal leaders and regional directors join the group before the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Whistler starts Sept.12.
“I really feel strongly that the UBCM has a good relationship with the government and it can be a strong voice for all of us,” she said.
“Because rural B.C. really has been the frog in boiling water.”
Both the North Vancouver Island region — which includes the small communities of Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Alert Bay — and Clearwater in the North Thompson River valley are suffering repeated and prolonged closures of their emergency rooms.
