Editor:
I am writing this letter in response to recently reported incidents in which health care workers were verbally abused or felt threatened by the aggressive refusal of certain individuals when asked to wear face masks when entering Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital.
As a result, health care workers were feeling unsafe and threatened in their workplace. This is not okay!
I get it!
Masks are a pain, they are hot, at times claustrophobic, make it hard to communicate especially if you have hearing loss, but it is no excuse to berate or threaten local health care professionals in our community. Masks have been mandated by the B.C. public health officer across the entire province in response to significantly rising rates of cold, flu, RSV, and covid. The intention is to protect our valued health care workers and keep them on the job as well as protect the vulnerable population seeking medical care in these facilities.
The intention of this letter is not to debate the effectiveness of masking, if you disagree then it is your right to address your concerns directly to the provincial government health officer.
It is not your right to verbally assault or physically threaten the professional, committed and caring health care workers that keep our hospital operating and our community safe. We have not had a closure in our community for several months, but it is a very fine line we walk. We still have staffing shortages for nurses, lab techs, x-ray, cleaners, kitchen staff etc. If even one key staff member calls in sick or because they felt unsafe in their workplace it could and will result in a temporary closure of our hospital.
Our community is the envy of every village, town, and city across Canada as we have a committed group of professionals who come to work every day do the best they can under difficult circumstances to keep our hospital open. We have a full complement of doctors and easy access to quality medical care at our hospital. Let’s not ruin that by taking frustration on these amazing people.
Mask up, show our local health care people that we care about them; we care about our vulnerable population, and we care about our community
Show gratitude, not attitude.
Thank you and thanks to those people that keep our community safe.
DOC Counsellor Ken Matheson, on behalf of the Mayor and the entire District of Clearwater Council