Allison Ruault met with the District of 100 Mile House council on Sept. 13, and the topic of opening up more long-term care beds in 100 Mile came up.
Ruault noted she has moved on to another area of responsibility in the Interior Health Authority (IHA), but said there is a lot of discussion about those 9unopened beds).
"At this point, there was another allocation [more than] 500 beds within the health authority this year ... waiting for the ministry in terms of allocation of funds to be able to open and operate new beds."
Mayor Mitch Campsall said when the issue was discussed with IHA president and chief executive officer Dr. Robert Halpenny and IHA staff recently, district representatives were "not really excited or pleased about the answers" provided to them.
Campsall told the IHA brass he thinks small towns get "left out" of the big picture.
"I don't think they really put as much effort into small communities as they do into large communities.
"Our hospital is a prime example of it, and I had no problem saying it to [Halpenny]."
There are going to be some "interesting conversations" between the district and IHA at the upcoming Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), he added.
"There's a huge lineup for those beds."
Ruault noted she had toured the new beds at Fischer Place/Mill Site Lodge (FP/MSL) the week before and they were "pretty well" completed.
"It wouldn't take an awful lot. It's really waiting on the operating money, but there's certainly lots of discussion."
Coun. Mel Torgerson, who also manages the Care Free Manor senior's facility, added: "You are so close [to having more open beds] ... it's frustrating."