Wawota plans meeting over bed closures
by Kevin Weedmark
Wawota’s Save Our Beds committee is planning a public meeting for Wednesday, July 28 at the town hall in Wawota in order to give local residents a chance to question officials about the closure of five beds at Deer View Lodge.
Organizers have invited Sun Country board members, senior administrators, and local MLAs Dan D’Autremont and Don Toth.
“We just want to give the public their chance to ask their questions,” said Save Our Beds committee chair Dale Easton. “They’ve never had a chance to ask their questions of the administrative staff and the board of directors.”
Easton said he’s hoping the meeting will encourage the health board to reverse its decision on the beds at Wawota.
“We would like the public to come to the meeting with some good questions and make these people think again, and make them understand that they made a mistake here and finally admit they made a mistake and overturn what they’ve done.”
He said people in Wawota plan to fight until the decision is overturned.
“People are still wanting what we initially wanted in the first days—for those beds to be re-opened,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone has accepted defeat here,” Easton said. “We may be frustrated but we haven’t accepted defeat.”
The meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 28 at the Wawota town hall.
The Sun Country Regional Health Authority announced last month that it is closing five beds at Wawota’s Deer View Lodge in order to save $110,000 in annual operating costs.
One former board member says he doesn’t feel the board was informed of all the facts when it made its decision. Lorne Rygh of Kipling, who recently resigned from the Sun Country Regional Health Authority, said last week that he didn’t think the board had all the information when they agreed to close the beds at Wawota.
“Wawota has kept me informed with copies of literature,” he said. “We were just told those five rooms were once needed because there was a doctor, but they weren’t needed anymore. I’m not certain that I fully understood the issue. I understood there were to be more savings than what occurred. Wawota has made a valid issue out of that.
“I’m a little disappointed there hasn’t been a more thorough discussion by the board.”
Rygh resigned from the board June 25, saying he simply doesn’t have time to devote to the board.