There has been a serious uproar in many of the local communities around my hometown. Many have had their hospitals downgraded to “emergency facilities” or eliminated altogether. Residents fear that a lack of 24-hour hospital service will inevitably lead to situations where the sick or injured will not be able to make it to a health facility quickly enough to prevent serious complications or even death.

This is a very valid concern.

What shouldn’t surprise me (but always does) is the response of the citizens. In the face of a dreadful concern – their own life and death – their response is to beg the politicians to restore funding to their communities, to re-fund the local hospitals. To this end, the citizens write letters, post signs, attend rallies, and otherwise plead with their leaders to restore the funding to their communities.

Why in the world do residents of small-town British Columbia think that their duly-elected immigrants to Victoria should shed tears on their behalf? In my riding, the MLA’s hometown still has a fully-funded hospital. But the other communities have lost theirs. Now THAT isn’t surprising.

Why is it that the local citizens are content to whine and complain to Victoria (and/or Ottawa), begging them to care for their sick and injured? It is so much easier to complain that the politicos do nothing than to actually take care of the problem ourselves.

Here’s an idea that no one is proposing.

If we really, honestly cared about the ability of our local community to care quickly and competently for its sick and injured, we would stop looking to our leaders to do it for us, and jolly well do it ourselves. We have competent physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, support staff, etc still here. All we really need do is decide that we, as a community, will make sure that the hospital stays open and in business, and nuts to the politicians.

We are skilled in raising money for charitable causes. Once I saw a Rotary club convention in the Kootenays raise over $10,000 in ten minutes. Individuals and groups continually raise enormous sums for the all kinds of worthy charities.

Not only do we raise a great deal of money for charities, but we also happily spend money on ourselves, for new clothes, new cars, cell phones, and all sorts of other tidbits and trinkets that keep us placated and comfortable. These aren’t bad things, but I believe that we could feel much better about ourselves if we came together as a community for a common cause that ignites passion in our hearts.

Clubs, churches, businesses, industry, and individuals working together on this common cause could, with enough strength of will, find the resources necessary to keep hospital emergency rooms open 24 hours. In Castlegar, the government is still covering 12 hours per day of emergency service. All we need do is cover the other twelve.

Not only would ordinary citizens contribute, but local medical personnel could consider donating time or expertise to their local community, perhaps donating a portion of their wages back to the cause, instead of fighting against the citizens through aggressive union negotiations. We are no longer fighting the government. We’re just showing them up to be irrelevant.

Let me throw out one more concept. I don’t believe we have to cover it through local taxes. This must be a community project – caring for our own sick and injured on an ongoing, continual basis. All we need do is believe in it, and be passionate about it. No one needs to force us to “ante up” through taxes. We can have the strength of will to give generously without coercion to ensure the continuance of our community’s ability to care for our own. No donation is too small. We don’t need bricks or paving stones or plaques with our names on them; we don’t need reminders etched in concrete that John Doe donated X dollars to the cause. The pride will be etched into our own hearts, as we see our community raised up as an example to our province, and the country, and the world of people who care too much to let politicians render impotent our ability to care for our own citizens.

We don’t have to do things exactly the way outlined here. This is just one citizen’s idea. But I strongly believe that it is imperative that we not wait for Victoria or Ottawa to provide our needs. We have the ability to do this ourselves.

Do we have citizens who want to lead? Who want to make a difference? We have the opportunity to do something revolutionary: we have the opportunity to care.