After ER closures, B.C community building modular housing for health-care workers
CBC
A small community in B.C’s South Okanagan region is hoping housing will be part of the solution when it comes to keeping their emergency room open.
The town of Oliver, B.C., located approximately 35 kilometres south of Penticton, held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for modular housing units meant for health-care workers.
The modular units will be able to house four people, and will be built near Sunnybank Centre, a long-term care facility in the community.
Officials hope that the two-bedroom homes will help attract health-care workers to come work at the nearby South Okanagan General Hospital either permanently or on a temporary basis.
“This is really going to help people come from a lot further away — whether it is from northern B.C, or Alberta, or internationally, it is really going to help us attract those kinds of people where we haven’t been able to before,” said Oliver Mayor Martin Johansen.
Service disruptions at South Okanagan General Hospital has been a big issue for the small community of about 5,000 people. The emergency room also serves nearby communities like the town of Osoyoos.
This year alone, the hospital faced 30 closures, according to Interior Health — diverting patients to the next closest hospital in Penticton around a 40-kilometre drive away.
Johansen said the ER closures create a domino effect in the region.
"If you got an emergency and you need care immediately, and Penticton is your only option, you have to phone an ambulance — which pulls an ambulance out of our community, and then there are people waiting for an ambulance to come back,” the mayor said.
Many of those service disruptions took place this past summer.
From June to September, the hospital experienced 15 closures.
An Interior Health official hopes the homes will help stabilize emergency services in the area.
“Oliver is a beautiful place to live and work — but during the peak tourist season, it is extremely difficult to find available housing for any of our travelling health-care providers," said Madeline Csillag-Wong, executive director of clinical operations for Interior Health.
"And so, by putting in the modular housing, we are able to ensure that people who come to Oliver for short stints will have a place to stay."
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