In March 2021, a few short months after relocating my mother from Nelson to Nanaimo, she experienced a heart attack. I was living in Colwood at the time. After she was transported to the NRGH and stabilized, it was determined she would require three stents to be installed. I received a call from the hospital notifying me of Mom’s condition. Immediately I planned to jump into my car to drive up to Nanaimo. As we were amid the Covid-19 pandemic I was advised that I would not be able to see her in hospital and that they would need to transport her to Victoria to have a cardiologist there install the stents. It took several hours to prepare Mom for transport and deliver her to Royal Jubilee Hospital. I met the ambulance there and was able to see her briefly before they wheeled her into the cardiac care ward.
One of the main reasons I relocated Mom to Vancouver Island was my concerns regarding the medical care she was able to receive in a smaller and somewhat remote community as she aged. While I was grateful she received the care she needed at the time, it was unfortunate the acute care she needed required a trip over the Malahat while she was in such a vulnerable state. We were fortunate the road conditions at this time of year made the route passable.