Now that they have a bus for you travel on, perhaps you would like to stay at their choice of hotel. The next phase of the “Connections” program run by the Northern Health Authority may be reduced cost hotel accommodations in Prince George, Vancouver and Grande Prairie.
In a Prince George Free Press article from August 23rd, the Health Authority explained they had sought out proposals from hotels to provide discounted accommodations for those traveling for medical needs to the those three centers.
The article also provides us with the news that the NHA is looking into creating a call centre for those seeking out medical information around the Northern region. With a portion of their 4 million dollars in Connections money still unspent, they are busy looking for other ways to respond to new needs.
Too bad, they don’t have the call centre in place, at least then we could give them a call and give them a few ideas!
NHA will address accomodation issues
By Arthur Williams
Free PressAug 23 2006
The next phase for the Northern Health Connections program may be providing reduced-cost hotel stays for patients spending one or more nights in Vancouver or Prince George for medical treatment.
Currently, the program provides low-cost bus transportation for patients needing to travel for medical services. Patients referred to the program will be able to travel round-trip for $20 to $80.
Patients travelling from Prince George to Vancouver pay $40 return and are able to bring one family member or caregiver at the same rate.
The first bus routes began running in July and more are scheduled to begin service in August and September, program manager Sean Hardiman told the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George board of directors Thursday.
“One of the things we’ve heard from people in the North is there is a lack of reasonable accommodation options,” Hardiman said.
Hardiman said Northern Health requested proposals from hotels to provide the discounted accommodation.
“We have one lined-up in Vancouver, one in Prince George and one in Grande Prairie,” Hardiman said.
Because discussions are still underway, Hardiman said he couldn’t reveal which hotels they are in discussions with or how much of a rate reduction patients can expect to see.
Northern Health also examined the idea of creating a call centre for health service information in the North, he said.
However, none of the proposals received met the needs of Northern Health within the program’s budget, he said.
Hardiman said Northern Health plans to revisit the concept and see if it could be made workable in another way.
The provincial government provided $4 million a year funding for the Connections program, he said, and Northern Health has not used the whole amount to provide some leeway to respond to new needs as they arise.
“This is a totally new concept. We’re not sure how this is going to work out in the long term,” he said. “We expect we will encounter some road blocks, but we will work around them.”
For more information about the Connections program, go online to www.northernhealth.ca/nhconnections or call 1-888-647-4997.
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