LETTER: Vernon hospital emergency staff calm in a storm<\/p>\n
Published 8:00 am Monday, February 2, 2026<\/p>\n
Recently, I found myself visiting the VJH emergency department.<\/p>\n
The trip began with a short ride in a $250,000 ambulance, made lighter by the driver\u2019s good-natured humour.<\/p>\n
At the ER, I was diagnosed with bacteremia \u2013 unwelcome critters in the bloodstream \u2013 which required six daily doses of intravenous antibiotics.<\/p>\n
Subsequent visits to VJH were made in my minimalist VW.<\/p>\n
On Day 6, when I returned for what I hoped would be a routine IV treatment, the emergency department was overflowing.<\/p>\n
Every seat outside was taken, and inside it seemed every wall was lined with a gurney.<\/p>\n
A staff member remarked that the hospital was operating at 130 per cent capacity.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t feeling better, and the atmosphere felt chaotic. <\/p>\n
All I wanted was to leave.<\/p>\n
My coughing, as well, did not blend well with the rest of the choir.<\/p>\n
Then a staff member stood in front of me \u2013 there was no room to sit \u2013 and told me he had noticed something and wanted to admit me.<\/p>\n
My inner voice protested loudly, but then he added, \u201cIf you were my dad, I would want you to stay and have these tests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slowly and reluctantly, I agreed.<\/p>\n
The tests revealed pulmonary embolisms \u2013 blood clots in my lungs \u2013 with potentially serious consequences.<\/p>\n
Today, I am home, comfortable, and administering daily clot-dissolving injections that I will continue for the next six months.<\/p>\n
Life is good.<\/p>\n
My point is this: Although our medical system is clearly under strain, we are fortunate in Vernon to have health-care professionals who work under immense pressure with calm deliberation, expertise and genuine humanity.<\/p>\n
I hope not to need the VJH emergency department again, but I am deeply grateful to know it is there \u2013 for me, and for all of us.<\/p>\n
Ted M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LETTER: Vernon hospital emergency staff calm in a storm Published 8:00 am Monday, February 2, 2026 Recently, I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-271505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}