Oliver councillor to head hospital district
Stressing the need to ensure equal access to health care regardless of community, an Oliver town councillor was elected Thursday to lead the agency responsible for funding local hospitals.
Petra Veintimilla was picked by her peers in a secret ballot to chair the Okanagan Similkameen Regional Hospital District. She beat Penticton director Frank Regehr for the position.
“I have spent the past few years learning about some of the issues affecting rural health care in our region and our province and, warranted or not, there is some real angst among many South Okanagan residents who fear their timely access to health care is in jeopardy and they see centralization of hospital services on the horizon,” Veintimilla said in her pitch before the vote.
She argued electing her chair would be a “very strategic move” and demonstrate “that timely and equal access to health-care services, regardless of where you live, are important to us and we believe our rural communities deserve the same level of care and resources as our urban areas do.”
Summerland Mayor Toni Boot also beat Regehr en route to being named vicechair.
They’ll be at the helm when the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion, the largest project in the region’s history, opens next spring.
The hospital district, which is primarily responsible for levying taxes to fund a 40 per cent share of local health projects and equipment, is a subordinate of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, with which it shares directors. Both organizations elect leaders once a year.
Karla Kozakevich, who represents Naramata, was chosen by acclamation Thursday for the third consecutive year to chair the RDOS.
She raised eyebrows in recent weeks by publicly questioning new Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki’s decision to appoint the city’s three other RDOS directors based on their placing in the municipal election rather than experience, which left veteran Coun. Judy Sentes out of the mix.
“None of that’s come up today, and I would say I was not critical,” Kozakevich told reporters after the inaugural meeting.
Rather, “I was expressing my support for Judy. I felt she worked really hard and was a good addition to our board,” said Kozakevich.
There was no change at the vice-chair level either, with Keremeos Mayor Manfred Bauer elected to the position in a run-off against Vassilaki.
With the addition of the new Area I, the RDOS board now has 19 directors: nine representing rural areas and the other 10 from member municipalities.