Uh-Oh, Someone Forgot To Unlock The Meeting Room

IHA officials arrived early in Princeton today (May 28, 2012) for their 'closed door' meeting with Town Council. The meeting was planned for 4:00 PM in the Conference Room of Princeton Library - the entrance of which faces out to Vermilion Avenue and Veterans Square where a rally was taking place.

The IHA officials exited a vehicle and walked to the Library door as watched by Save Our Hospital Coalition 'protesters' gathered on the other side of the street with signs and posters making reference to the recent decision making by IHA to further reduce service hours at Princeton Hospital's Emergency Department.

Then it happened. The realization that the Library door was locked.

Lucky for the IHA officials the crowd was not what one would consider an angry mob - although frustrated citizens did yell out comments such as "How does it feel to be locked out?"

While we don't condone those actions, we have to look at the motivation behind them. IHA has systematically gutted service after service in health care throughout rural British Columbia's Southern Interior. Residents are fed up, angry and just a tad suspicious of anything said by IHA officials. Maybe they expected local residents to roll over and play dead.

As it turns out, that is obviously not going to happen.