Letter to the editor – Beware of the hospital! I went to the local “hospital” today (Wednesday) for an Xray for a fractured rib. I am already handicapped by spinal stenosis and need a walking cane to get about. I was shocked at the state of the parking lot, packed snow covered by rough gravel. It was very difficult and dangerous to get across…
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Merritt Morning Market 
Hey Kim. Dr. Holmes’ letter really resonated with me and as a result, I wanted to share… Feel free to use what follows in your next publication if you feel it’s worthy. If not, no judgement placed (:
Kudo’s to Dr. Holmes for expressing his concerns about the state of the Nicola Valley Health Centre grounds. I’m so sorry he (and, I assume, many others) had to navigate around our so called “hospital” just to get to the doors. It’s truly a shame that a guy like Dr. Holmes – not only a disabled senior and a long time Merritt resident but a kind and devoted family physician who practiced at a time when house calls were a thing, even in bad weather and as far out as Shackan and Douglas Lk. Trying to work his way over slippery snow pack and uneven gravel in a parking lot, just to enter our health care centre is unacceptable at best. I place no judgement on the staff – they rock despite their circumstances – but I do place huge judgement on the governments that have allowed our health care system to get to this point. I’m a kid of the sixties. That was a time when the Canadian health care system was revered all over the world.
How has it come to this? I’m in complete agreement with Dr. Holmes; “we need more control over our health services”. We don’t need administrators sitting at their desks and barking out unnecessary, ill-informed directions. We need front line practitioners and we need to listen to them.