Open letter to NDP Leader Liz Hanson:
As a resident of Watson Lake I can assure you that Watson Lake’s current hospital is outdated and in need of an upgrade. It has served Watson Lake for more than 35 years and has major design flaws as well as health and safety issues.
The hospital has been providing palliative and chronic care in all of that time. I don’t know where you get the idea that a new facility would discontinue this service. In addition this hospital handles “overflow” from the already taxed Whitehorse hospital.
This new facility and its administration will provide services not currently provided in the community, therefore eliminating travel costs and undue stress on its clients.
If I were in your position maybe I’d focus on recruiting skilled staff, doctors, nurses, lab techs and so on. Not having a new hospital would ultimately result in the loss of its service to our community.
Wanda Durocher
Watson Lake