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Boswell residents appreciate service at Creston Valley Hospital

The management at CVH should be proud of what they provide, and the community should be proud of what they have at this facility...

To the Editor:

On Jan. 14, I took my wife, Ellen, to the emergency room at the Creston Valley Hospital (CVH) because she was disoriented and confused, and exhibited the signs of a mini stroke. She had been in the Foothills Medical Center (FMC) in Calgary two weeks previous, with pancreas problems, and after seven days of treatment and subsequent outpatient testing she was told to be cautious of her diet and further testing would occur. We then travelled to our home on the East Shore.

Fortunately, when I took my wife to CVH, we had all of the records and tests with us, and upon presenting them to the Creston ER physician, my wife was immediately placed on an intravenous feed and the appropriate blood tests were performed. From that point on, she was given full and professional care, informed of what had happened to her (recurrence of pancreatitis) and consulted on what the next recommended steps should be.

After six days it was established that her system could not tolerate even a very bland diet without a flare-up of the pancreas, and that she would need to be placed on a “food tube”. This procedure was not possible at CVH, and it was recommended that she be returned to Calgary immediately. We did so the next day and were admitted immediately into the FMC.

Previous to this incident, and also during the time my wife was in the Creston hospital, we heard complaints about the care and quality of the Creston hospital. Based on my wife’s experience, such complaints are totally unjustified and are made by individuals who have never experienced the difficult situations in the larger facilities, or perhaps by individuals who complain about everything without cause or reason.

My wife can’t say enough good about what she experienced at CVH. It is clean and organized, the staff is professional and exhibit a wonderful bedside manner, and keep the patient and family well informed, and the doctors are professional and well qualified. The management at CVH should be proud of what they provide, and the community should be proud of what they have at this facility.

A special thank you to Dr. Hopkins, all of the professionals and caregivers at CVH, the admissions staff, charge nurse and all of the nurses and support staff — you were wonderful and we can’t say enough good about you.

Curt Hartzler

Boswell