Editor:
Re: “Survey suggests tense relationship between VCH and hospital doctors,” Nov. 30.
What’s going to happen to our hospital? The result of the Doctors of BC annual survey measuring how doctors rate satisfaction with working conditions in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) hospitals is devastating for Sechelt. Of all hospitals, ours rated a decisive last. Just about every working condition hit bottom, including, tellingly, the effectiveness of administrative leadership. What’s worse, our ratings have plunged just since last year’s survey. In contrast, Powell River’s hospital led the pack, both in standing and improvement.
Looking back, we had plenty of warning. Last year a delegation of doctors to Sechelt council described the desperate and potentially dangerous problem of over-capacity at the hospital. Their concerns were met with Olympian indifference. Doctors also made lengthy written submissions to Victoria with no apparent effect. VCH simply maintains, then as now, that they know of nothing wrong. If this continues, our hospital’s results won’t even be on the radar of next year’s survey.
Perhaps our energetic new council will become a vigorous advocate for our hospital and our community’s health care. Maybe our Sunshine Coast MLA, Nicholas Simons, can shed some light on why two hospitals in his constituency have such wildly different administrative relationships with VCH – from best to worst – and how to fix it.
Meanwhile, we hear all the time of patients and their families expressing so much gratitude for extraordinary treatment and care given them and their loved ones by our doctors and hospital staff – this dedication in spite of the persistence of the dismal working conditions the survey shows. It’s inspiring to think of what our hospital could be like if its administrators would learn from the survey and begin to nurture such dedication.
Gene Errington, Sechelt
