Local resident George Penner and his sister Annie, say they are concerned about the lack of medical care available in Burns Lake.
According to George his mother Margaret, 76 suffered a stroke on Aug. 26, 2011 at about 11:30 p.m.
Quick thinking Annie, who has a mental disability and lives with Margaret, called her brother for help when she saw her mom collapse.
"She was out cold," said George.
He has a certificate in level three first aid and knew that she could have had a stroke.
"I know the first few hours for stroke patients are critical," he said.
Stroke researchers say that, 'time is brain' meaning that there is a better chance of recovery from a stroke, if a patient seeks medical treatment quickly.
Immediate treatment saves lives and reduces potential disabilities.
Depending on the type of stroke, within three hours of experiencing symptoms, physicians are able to administer blood clot busting medication and save critical brain tissue.
George said he immediately called for an ambulance, which arrived soon after, taking Margaret to the Lakes District Hospital for treatment. Margaret also had several seizures once she arrived at the hospital
"There was no doctor on duty. I was told Dr. Hill was away, Dr. Graetz was on vacation and the other doctor that was working in Burns Lake had been on call for the last two nights and was too tired to come in."
"The nurses and paramedics did an awesome job, but they could only do so much," he said.
George said a phone call was made to see if they could transfer his mom to Prince George for treatment.
He said a call for an ambulance was again made in order to transport his mom to the University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George for treatment, however the ambulance on duty in Burns Lake was unavailable.
"We had to wait for an ambulance to arrive from Houston .... there was no doctor and no ambulance. Fortunately mom is okay now. She is still recovering, but next time someone may not be as fortunate."
George praises Annie for acting fast and calling him, but he said the sequence of events that happened after are concerning.
"We need doctors in town," he said, adding that he is telling his story in the hopes that it will shed more light on the lack of medical care in Burns Lake and prompt Northern Health to act. "Northern Health say we have medical coverage, but clearly we do not. We are paying taxes towards medical care .... so what are we paying for if we don't have doctors?"
He said he doesn't have anything negative to say about the nurses and paramedics.
"They helped mom. They stabilized her as much as they could. Doctor coverage isn't here and it should be," he said.
Margaret spent nine days in hospital and while she can't remember any of the events that transpired that evening, George said she is doing okay.
Remarkably she did not loose her speech or the use of any of her limbs. She has since returned home and has been under the care of Dr. Graetz who, George says has provided awesome care for his mom.
"People are going to lose lives with something like this. All of this may not have had to happen to mom if doctors had been available at the Lakes District Hospital."
Dr. Susan MacDonald, Northern Health's Northern Interior medical director said to Lakes District News that while she cannot comment on individual patient cases she said that is it usual for communities, like Burns Lake, to redirect suspected stroke patients on to Prince George or Smithers.
According to Dr. MacDonald, aside from looking at a patient's history and a physical examination, a CT scan is required to determine what type of stroke and what type of treatment a possible stroke patient requires.
Dr. MacDonald explained that there is also a risk associated with giving anti thrombotic [blood clot clearing] drugs.
"Transferring the patient is the usual approach regardless of a diversion [no doctor on duty, so patients are transferred to other medical facilities]," she said.
She went on to confirm that there was a diversion at the emergency room that night, but that it was a planned diversion.
Dr. MacDonald went on to explain that during the month of August the emergency room had diversions six times.
In February this year Michael McMillan Northern Health's chief operating officer said despite doctor shortages, there would continue to be 24/7 coverage of the emergency room.
As reported in the Lakes District News edition of Feb. 9, 2011, McMillan said, "There will continue to be 24/7 emergency medical coverage in Burns Lake. After April 30, 2011 there will be locums [a temporary doctor who works in place of a regular doctor] that will come in. Other communities have gone through this as well and have had locums come in to provide service," McMillan said. He went on to say, "Northern Health is committed to the Lakes District Hospital, to the emergency department and to the patients. We know that the people of Burns Lake need primary medical care and access to that care in Burns Lake."
Lakes District News again spoke to McMillan who said Northern Health is still committed to the Lakes District Hospital.
He said Northern Health are doing everything they can to provide 24/7 care at the Lakes District Hospital. “We can’t force physicians to practise in Burns Lake. Yes, there has been challenges but we continue to do everything we can to find physicians. A lot of communities have gone through this, Mackenzie, most recently and there is now some stability there. We are still working on recruitment and it will remain to be challenging until we have success with recruiting. It takes time to recruit physicians.”
According to Dr. MacDonald, August was a particularly challenging month.
"Dr. Hill is away due to a family emergency in the U.K. The schedule was good for coverage, but due to Dr. Hill's unplanned absence there were gaps left in coverage."
She explained that monthly schedules are set up with on call times for the doctors. Doctors are also paid to be on call.
On Aug. 26, 2011, the day of Margaret's stroke, there was a 12 hour gap in coverage at the Lakes District Hospital.
Dr. MacDonald said the gap would not have been because the doctor was to tired to work and went home, but because of a scheduled diversion. "There is a specific plan in place."
"Some of the gaps are being filled by University Hospital Northern B.C., Dr. Yvon Makadiama, who is a specialized emergency room physician."
He has been providing emergency room services in Burns Lake on certain days in August and this will continue through September.
"We are also talking with another emergency room physician from Vancouver Island who would travel and work in Burns Lake on occasion."
She said providing temporary doctors is part of the transitional plan, but that Northern Health is looking at having more community based physicians available. Doctors that will live and work in the community.
Dr. MacDonald also said that a South African doctor is still set to arrive in Burns Lake, hopefully this year. As reported in the Lakes District News edition of Aug. 17, 2011, the doctor and his family are currently in the process of Canadian immigration.
"They are still in the process of immigration but it looks to be progressing well. He is so excited to come to Burns Lake," she said.
"We have to have a balance between physician coverage at the emergency room and the Burns Lake Medical Clinic. Most doctors work at the clinic as well. We have to balance clinic and emergency room hours and keep the doctors healthy. There also has to be a balance for patient safety."