Honesty = Transparency

One of the many things that disappoints me about IHA (Interior Health Authority) is how they handle certain situations. Ever since I launched this 'public awareness' website I continue to be amazed with concrete examples of where the centralization of health care services has failed in the delivery of those services.

What amazes me the most is the way in which IHA officials respond to these issues. They duck and weave, they dodge and shuffle, they change the subject by talking up some other wonderful new feature of centralized health care or they simply ignore the question by saying they'll get back to us with an answer.

Look, we're not idiots out here in the country. We live in rural British Columbia because we want to. We expect the same kind of health services as are delivered to bigger cities because that is something we have been promised.

I shake my head each time a flaw had been revealed and it appears as if no one wants to acknowledge it exists.

All I want is for the officials at IHA to admit there is something wrong. There's no shame in taking responsibility. Heck, I'd be thrilled to hear Dr. Halpenny or Minister de Jong actually same something along the lines of, "You're right, there's a problem here and we should all work together to fix it."

In fact, I think it would bring a lot of us together to try to fix it instead of drawing lines in the sand and ignoring the fact that there's something seriously wrong with rural health care.

A little honesty can go a long way, even with politicians.