The mayor of one of Vancouver Island’s fastest growing regions says it’s time her community gets a hospital – or at least an urgent care facility.
After years of continued growth, the town of more than 13,000 people needs a hospital so residents don’t have to travel to Victoria for care, according to Sooke Mayor Maja Tait.
“When I consider what Sooke needs so that we can grow and develop as our own strong town, we need better health services within our community,” said Tait. “A hospital would be great, but I’ll settle for a primary urgent care facility.”
Tait said the two things she gets the most calls about are improvements to Highway 14, which connects the community to the rest of Greater Victoria, and requests for a hospital.
There’s only one medical clinic in the district and the wait list to see a doctor is lengthy.
X-ray services only run for two days a week, two hours at a time.
People in Sooke say the need to travel for medical attention is too common – and it can be a nightmare of a commute.
“Like yesterday’s for instance, I went on the HandyDart bus at ten o’clock,” said resident Jean Hendern. “I only got home at 4:15. I only had one appointment.”
That’s why Tait says better services are needed in the community, but so far, the province has been unreceptive.
“The response from the province is always that due to our proximity, we are within 30 kilometres of Victoria General, so our residents can access the services available within the core,” she said. “Try taking the bus there yourself and let me know how convenient that really is, especially when you’re in pain.”
When contacted by CTV News, the province reiterated its response that it works with health authorities to pinpoint priority areas in the Capital Region – and Sooke isn’t one of them.
“At this time, a new hospital in Sooke has not been identified by Island Health as a priorirty,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
But Island Health says it’s working on a plan to meet the growing needs of the West Shore, but stopped short of siding with Sooke’s mayor just yet.
“Infrastructure costs to support a new healthcare facility would be significant and priorities would have to be examined in context with other needs throughout Island Health’s care communities,” the health authority said in a statement.
Facing continued growth in the community, Tait says she’ll keep lobbying the province for a new hospital regardless.
“We’ve been in the top five in the province for growth, so when I look at other small communities they have primary and urgent care together, they might already have a small hospital,” she said. “Well, why can’t we even get our X-ray service upgraded?”
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Yvonne Raymond
