The MLA for Cariboo North is calling on the north to come together in 2023 to push for some much needed projects.
Coralee Oakes says when it comes to healthcare, in some cases we are going without.
“We definitely need a cardiac center in the north. I think we’re the only health authority that doesn’t have that specific level of care, so that’s part of the surgery tower that is needed in the north. We need a pet scan for cancer supports in the north.”
Oakes says in past decades the north rallied together for the Northern Cancer Centre and UNBC.
In Quesnel, Oakes says it’s time for phase 3 at the North Cariboo Community Campus.
“That’s the student housing piece. It’s the piece of the expansion of some of the programs. We desperately need the LPN program and if we move forward on phase 3 of the campus, we can start training some of the workforce that is so critically needed, whether it’s at our seniors facility, our hospital, in our school district or our skilled trade labour.”
Oakes says she’s also hoping that the provincial government will move on some of the solutions that the opposition has put forward around public safety and protection in communities.
“There are certain things that are necessary when we look at prolific offenders in our communities, and there are also some solutions that we’ve been putting forward on how we can find improved services for people with mental health and addiction challenges in our communities, but also recognizing that there are some people in our community that are criminals and they need to be in jail.”
Oakes says she there are some significant challenges in the Quesnel area that she hopes will get better in 2023.
“We’ve had some really significant challenges with our ambulance system to our hospital right now, the significant challenges that we have in our hospital and how our healthcare workers are doing absolutely everything that they can, but they are stretched so thin.”
Oakes says she worries about the mental health of everyone working in the healthcare system.