Photo showing the Merritt ER closed in October, 2023/via Mike Goetz
The Mayor of Merritt has officially sent in a bill to the provincial government for services not rendered at the Nicola Valley Hospital emergency room.
Mike Goetz says he wants compensation for 24 emergency room closures over the past 19 months, with the most recent shutdown coming just last night, July 11.
“The total is $103,831.87,” Goetz told Radio NL. “I sent that out this morning with the explanation of what the cost breakdown is and why it was done. It went to the Premier and several other people. I said it would be going out this week, and out this week it went.”
In addition to the costs of the 19 closures last year, and five so far this year, Goetz also wants the province to cover costs incurred by the Merritt Fire Department.
Goetz says Merritt firefighters responded to 497 medical calls while the emergency room was closed in 2023, with local taxpayers picking up those costs for services he says the Province should have been paying for.
“They’re having to pick up the slack of downloading because you can’t keep the hospital open,” Goetz said,
While Health Minister Adrian Dix has indicated that the Province won’t be reimbursing Merritt, Goetz says he wants to keep the issue front and centre going into the October election.
“When you’re coming in to a provincial election and you’re talking about integrity and you talk about being there for the people and you’ve taken money for services not rendered…so yeah, I’d better see a credit for next year because if you don’t, you need to explain that all the way through the election,” Goetz said.
“This was a 1 per cent tax raise for our citizens this year to cover that and they’ve already paid for it once, so now we’re paying for it twice.”
In addition to the money, Goetz tells Radio NL he wants assurances from the Provincial Government that the issues plaguing emergency rooms in places like Merritt will be fixed.
“I can get behind any plan here whether its a six months or a year, and if there are high water marks to meet, at least we all work towards a plan, that’s fine,” Goetz said.
“I’m willing to get behind it, but right now, empty statements like ‘we’re throwing everything at it that we have’ or ‘we put $155 million into this’ or ‘these mayors are having a temper tantrum.’ It’s not a temper tantrum, its the fact that you’re not your job and we’re feeling vulnerable.”
