The 50-year milestone at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital was marked by barbecue, cake and a promise to the Indigenous communities that it serves.
A new sign outside the main entrance — unveiled as part of celebrations on Saturday — acknowledges that the hospital was built on lands belonging to the SEN膯O纽EN- and Hul’q’umi’num’-speaking peoples.
“We want to recognize the damage that has been caused by colonizers and the resulting genocide that has erased traditions and culture within,” the sign says. “Saanich Peninsula Hospital commits to walking and living side by side with First Peoples of this land and to build respectful relationships, improve health care services and uphold Indigenous voices.”
Island Health said the sign was developed in consultation with the four First Nations on the Saanich Peninsula.
The hospital, which previously faced allegations that its health-care professionals played a game guessing Indigenous patients’ blood alcohol levels when they were admitted, has made steps in recent years to improve its relationship with the Indigenous communities.
An investigation that wrapped up in 2020 found found no evidence to substantiate the allegations but found hundreds of other examples of racism, prejudice and profiling in the health-care system towards Indigenous people across the province.
The following year, Saanich Peninsula Hospital hired its first Indigenous patient navigator, Lucia Bartleman, to assist patients seeking emergency services.
Bartleman, a former health manager at Pauquachin Nation, is a comfort for many seeking emergency care at Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
She’s at the ward on weekdays to explain and accompany Indigenous patients and waiting family members through the medical system.
Many Indigenous people still don’t trust the health-care system, particularly those who experienced the trauma of residential schools and Indian hospitals, she said.
Her mother, a residential school survivor, had to be sedated for doctor visits, she said. “We never left her alone when she went to a doctor.”
Bartleman recalled how several years ago, she was able to stop an inebriated man from acting out in the emergency ward after he was brought there for medical care by police. “I came down to see him. As soon as he saw me, he quieted down because to him, I’m an elder,” said Bartleman, a member of the Tsartlip Nation.
She got him some food, convinced him to rest, received medical care, and dropped him off at home after his visit.
It’s one example of a community-first approach at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital, she said. “It makes a big difference if you’re there to support and not judge.”
First approved in 1969 to replace the old Rest Haven Hospital in Sidney, Saanich Peninsula Hospital opened on Feb. 8, 1974. The hospital’s 75-bed acute wing opened in 1978.
After a dozen major renovations, the hospital now has 143 extended-care beds, 55 acute-care beds, 10 palliative-care beds and about 600 employees.
Brendon Irvine, a medical director and emergency physician at the hospital, recalls thinking that it would be impossible to fill the emergency ward after its capacity was doubled by a $2.3-million upgrade in 2003.
“At the time, we were seeing about 30 patients a day,” he said. “Now we’re bursting at the seams and see often over 100 patients a day.”
The hospital is working to fill the four full-time-equivalent physician positions needed to staff a 24-hour emergency department, which has faced regular overnight closings since last July, he said.
The hospital has faced previous staff shortages.
It started a letter-mailing campaign to doctors across the country when it had an anesthetist shortage in 1998.
“Dear Doctor. Tired of long harsh winters? Consider relocation to the civilized climate of southern Vancouver Island,” the letters said, according to sa国际传媒 reports at the time.
Saanich Peninsula Hospital site director Erin Hohl said weather remains a strong draw, though physicians and nurses looking to move to the Saanich Peninsula now have to be mindful of the cost of living.
Other things have changed since the hospital first opened.
The hospital no longer has a maternity ward, though a handful of emergency deliveries — the last one occurred in 2018 — have happened in the past two decades, said Irvine.
Due to the climbing average age of Peninsula residents, the hospital sees many patients with aging-related illness and injuries, he said.
The thinning primary health-care system is bringing in unexpected challenges, he said. “We’re seeing very frequent cancer diagnosis” in the emergency room.
Standing outside the hospital on Saturday with a hotdog in hand — freshly cooked by Sidney Rotary volunteers — Irvine said community support is what keeps staff going every day.
“It’s what keeps our cup filled to provide the care that’s very much needed in this time.”
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