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LETTER: Don’t swear, yell at healthcare staff

Chief of Staff at St. John Hospital making several pleas to the residents of Vanderhoof
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Email aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com to submit letters to the editor

There are currently one million British Columbians without a family doctor. This translates to a deficit of about 850 family doctors across the province.

Vanderhoof has always had a robust medical community. But we are not immune from the healthcare crisis in our province and country. In my ten years in this community, I have never seen a staffing crisis like the one currently affecting Vanderhoof. It has affected every healthcare facility and every department in the region.

I am writing this to make several pleas to the people of the Omineca region:

Firstly, I understand that everyone is very, very tired of the pandemic. I understand that many of you are opposed to mask and vaccine mandates.

But please, please do not take your frustrations out on front desk staff at the clinic, hospital or public health office.

Please don’t yell and swear at the staff checking your vaccine passport or asking you to put a mask on.

No one at the front door wants to “debate” these issues with you. They had nothing to do with making decisions about any of the mandates. They are doing their job.

Being miserable serves no useful purpose and just burns our staff out.

Secondly, wait times in the Emergency Room are going to be longer. We are working hard. But more people are struggling to see their family doctor, so our volume in ER is going up.

Please consider carefully whether your medical issue really requires the Emergency Room.

Sick or injured children, broken limbs, cuts that won’t stop bleeding or severe chest or abdominal pain are several examples of emergencies.

If you aren’t sure whether you have an emergency, please present for care. But you may have to wait. Lab and X ray staff are at the hospital during regular business hours. If possible, come during business hours.

If you can’t, and it is felt to be clinically appropriate and safe, we may delay your labs or x ray until the next day. Calling upon staff to leave their dinners, families or sleep also burns people out. We are happy to come if you are ill. If you are not that sick, again, you may have to wait. Consider that UHNBC wait times range from 6-8 hours for low acuity presentations.

Finally, I know that I am directing this letter at a minority of people in this town. The healthcare workers of Vanderhoof greatly appreciate the many gestures and shows of support through the pandemic from everyone else.

Please know that we are all working hard to provide you the best possible care. We are also working hard on recruitment. But retention of our current staff is vitally important.

Please be kind and apply some common sense. None of us can afford for the healthcare staffing crisis to get any worse.

By Dr. Rebecca Janssen, MD CCFP

Chief of Staff at St. John Hospital

Editor’s note: This was first published in the June 16 edition of the Vanderhoof Omineca Express