The MLA for Ashcroft says she plans to keep the pressure on the Health Minister until the situation improves at the Ashcroft Emergency Room.

Jackie Tegart was speaking as the community petitions for 24/7 emergency health care in Ashcroft, instead of having to send people to Kamloops.

“I think that if we have a good solid conversation about what the needs are, and how that might work, we might be able to take some of the pressure off the Kamloops ER,” she said. “So it’s important that we sit down and have those conversations.”

Tegart praised the work that is being done by the Ashcroft Health Coalition and other local groups, saying that as an MLA her role is to support work that is being done on the ground.

Health Minister Adrian Dix was at the Ashcroft hospital earlier this month, but some critics have said that visit was a ‘waste of time.’

Tegart too called that visit disrespectful, adding that the hospital plays an important role not just in Ashcroft, but across the region.