Is help finally on the way for the health care crisis on the North Island?

Port Hardy mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt said Island Health hospitals in Port Hardy and Port McNeill will be getting renovations with the Stantec contracting firm overseeing the work, and 鈥渨e have two new physicians who have started working in Port Hardy with Island Health [and] are starting to work in the ER.鈥�

鈥淣ew RN鈥檚 have been hired, they鈥檙e training the RN鈥檚 in emergency, and the LPN positions are filled up at Eagle Ridge.鈥�

Corbett-Labatt said while this is good news, unfortunately there鈥檚 鈥渟till not enough trained RN鈥檚 to get our ER open, but every meeting I say 鈥榳e want it 24/7, we want it 24/7.鈥欌��

She added that at the upcoming Association of Vancouver Island and 台湾MM裸聊室 Communities meeting in Victoria, Port McNeill mayor James Furney and Alert Bay mayor Dennis Buchanan will be joining her to talk with Island Health and 鈥渓obby hard for our communities.鈥�

鈥淧eople have asked me why is Port McNeill [hospital] the one that鈥檚 open 24/7 and why isn鈥檛 Port Hardy,鈥� she said, stating that while Port Hardy has a bigger population, 鈥淚 want to remind people Alert Bay still isn鈥檛 open 24/7, so Port McNeill is kind of the central one.鈥�

She added if someone is evacuated from Alert Bay they鈥檙e sent to the Port McNeill hospital before anywhere else.

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