Hospital ‘swimming’ in sewage

[Guest guest]

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Hospital `swimming' in sewage

By NeufeldTuesday, October 31, 2006

http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_668.php

http://vernonblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/hospital-swimming-in-

sewage.html

By Don Quixote(Don Quixote

Frustrations continue to rise for staff at the Vernon Jubilee

Hospital after a toilet overflowed and sewage flooded into a

medication room on the floor below.Oncologist Ed Hardy who works in

the cancer centre said he was checking on the status of a patient

when he heard about the leak. " The toilet backed up and overflowed

pouring contaminated dirty water into the emergency room, into the

medication room, " he said. " They aren't able to give out the

medication at the moment because it's contaminated. " Hardy said the

sewage contamination is just one more example of how desperately the

hospital needs to be refurbished. He said there have been water

leaks in the cancer centre, water leaking off a fluorescent light

fixture in the outpatient department and black mould in the

nursery.An emergency room " swimming " in sewage is just another in a

long list of problems, Hardy said.The design process to add a second

tower to the hospital is underway but Hardy said that the government

has not yet made a firm commitment to fund it. With a scheduled

phase one completion set for around 2011 he said the improvements

are not coming fast enough. " This is something we deal with on a

daily basis, " he said. " I think staff are doing an excellent job,

the administration is supportive but it's very difficult to get an

agreement with the government. " Emergency room chief Mike Concannon

said Monday afternoon that the issue is a plumbing problem and that

the problem was being fixed. " The flooding of wastewater into the

medication room isn't a good thing, " he said.The flooding, mould and

other structural issues are proof that Vernon Jubilee needs more

than just a second tower, Concannon said. " I think it's just a sign

that this building is long past its date for replacement, " he

said. " Our department is pretty decrepit so in terms of staff morale

it's not a good setting to be working in. "

Posted by Don Quixote at 10/31/2006

Labels: Hospital

0 comments: