Merritt Mayor plans to withhold tax funds from province amid temporary ER closures
Global News
The ER at the Nicola Valley Hospital has been closed more than a dozen times this year, three this month.
As the crisis of emergency room closures continues to hinder health care at multiple BC Interior hospitals, officials at one city is taking action.
The City of Merritt is taking the drastic step of withholding tax money from the provincial government following the latest emergency department closure.
“We pay this every year at the beginning of every year. For 2023 we already paid, but for 2024 we will recalculate the 365 days of the year that we pay our taxes and then we will pull back the number of days we were closed because it was a service we didn’t get, or I would expect the government would credit us coming into the next year,” said Michael Goetz, mayor of Merritt.
The ER at the Nicola Valley Hospital has been closed 14 times this year, three this month.
“The staffing shortage that they say is the reason for these closures has to be addressed. All of these communities need emergency care,” said Merritt resident, Georgia Clement.
“Their standard answer for us here in Merritt is that if you need emergency care you are to go to Kamloops, which is fine if you have transportation.”
Goetz says if the province were to challenge the City of Merritt for withholding payments, he would welcome it.
“We can work with the ministry and say what does this look like, how do we make this work and how do we get compensated for the days we never got service for,” said Goetz.
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