The MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson says recent temporary changes made to healthcare services in the North Thompson is concerning.

Peter Milobar says closing rural facilities like the Barriere and District Health Centre while sending people who need care to places like Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops is not an optimal solution.

“We’ve all been trying to get from the government what the plan is long term for staffing in the area, and we keep being told from the Premier and the Health Minister that they have a plan, but they won’t tell us what is, and they won’t tell us when the plan will be released,” he said.

“So we’ll continue to work on that.”

Interior Health says the “temporary service adjustments” will allow them to temporarily reassign and redeploy staff from Barriere and other communities like Ashcroft and Clearwater to help sustain essential services throughout the region. People who need emergency care could be sent as far as 100 Mile House if they need to be admitted.

“With respect to Barriere, it is unfortunate but the intention is to ensure we bring our staff together to provide care that is necessary and it is our hope to reopen Barriere as soon as possible,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said, Friday.

“As the number of healthcare workers off sick has actually reduced this week, that situation will get better, but these are plans put in place because of the necessities of the Omicron variant of concern. It is Interior Health acting proactively to protect the healthcare system. It’s a very significant challenge in Interior Health.”

Speaking at Thursday’s Thompson Nicola Regional District Board Meeting, Milobar said he understands that COVID-19 has led to some challenges and changes in recent weeks and months.

“But again as we all know, there have been long standing issues that go back pre-COVID and we need to make sure that as we start to advance out of COVID that we are not seeing a further erosion of those health services in the community,” he said.

Kamloops-area mayors ‘fed up’ with lack of communication from Interior Health

At that TNRD meeting, Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer also proposed sending a letter to Interior Health voicing their displeasure over how the entire situation was handled.

“Just to be able to remind them that there’s been a whole lot of lack of communication and professionalism and respect, and now we’re going to get a lack of trust, because they’re not being honest with us,” he said.

“They’re basically trying to not communicate with us. They’re sort of telling us what to do instead of really giving us an opportunity to have a discussion with them.”

Stamer said there was no word from Interior Health before the announcement on Tuesday, a point echoed by Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell and Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden, who is also the editor of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal.

She told NL News that she first heard of the closures in a press release in her capacity as a journalist.

“Not that I’m all precious about being the mayor and being informed but when the press release itself does say ‘we are reaching out to local leaders’ and I’m sitting there reading that and thinking, ‘well, okay. When is this reaching out going to happen?’ Because it hasn’t happened yet,” she said.

Blackwell also noted that he was in a meeting with Interior Health a few hours before Tuesday’s announcement, where there was no mention of the upcoming changes.

There was another meeting at 3 p.m. around the time the press release went out, with Dix noting mayors across the health authority had the chance to ask questions for an hour.

“Susan Brown, who is the CEO of Interior Health, has been working day and night to support communities and services in Kamloops and everywhere else,” Dix said. “I don’t know [the nature of the complaints] but I am happy to talk to the mayors about their concerns.”