Unified Support Letter Regarding Ongoing Lillooet Hospital Closures

TO: Diane Shendruk, Executive Director, Interior Health Authority

RE: Unified Support Letter Regarding Ongoing Lillooet Hospital Closures

Dear Ms. Shendruk,

We, the undersigned representatives of the Lillooet Tribal Council, local St'át'imc communities, and the District of Lillooet, write to express our unified concern over the repeated closures of the Lillooet Hospital emergency ward. These closures, often with less than 10 hours' notice, have caused severe disruptions and anxiety within our communities, putting the health and safety of our residents at serious risk.

Closures during critical times - like heat warnings and natural disasters - have further endangered both Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents. Some of our communities are remote (over an hour away from Lillooet), and we count on the emergency ward to be open when needed, as a three-hour drive to Kamloops can be life-threatening. This is especially critical during fire season, shoulder seasons that bring heavy rains and slides, and on unpredictable winter road conditions. In short, we need our emergency ward to be available.

Also, the lack of timely communication from Interior Health is untenable and left local governments and St’át’imc governments to shoulder the burden of informing and protecting our people with no information and inadequate resources.

We urgently call on Interior Health to:

• Address the root causes of these closures, particularly staffing shortages.

• Establish a clear and proactive communication strategy to keep our communities informed.

• Collaborate directly with our leadership to find sustainable solutions and prevent future closures.

• We request that this matter be treated with the highest priority and that a meeting be scheduled soon to work toward collective solutions. Our communities cannot endure further closures without immediate intervention.

We trust our unified appeal will lead to the necessary dialogue and actions to ensure the health and safety of all our residents.

Signed by:

Chief Sid Scotchman

Chief Justin Kane

Mayor Laurie Hopfl