1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
2. What is the part of the Williams Lake’s Official Community Plan that you care about most, and want to see action on?
3. What solutions or ways forward do you see to address concerns around crime and homelessness in our community?
4 What do you think needs to be done to attract and retain professionals such as health care providers in our community?
5. Can you name a few fun facts people might not know about you?
I have been a local resident of Williams Lake for most of my life. I was married here and have raised my three children here.
I started out as a nurse and then switched to become a chiropractor, which I have been doing for over 21 years. I have also volunteered a lot in the community and am very passionate about Williams Lake.
As for the official community plan, right now the biggest concern I have is housing because it is such a stretch for not just attracting professionals, but adding more density. We need to be doing more because housing is so big for a lot of our seniors, for our homeless and for our low income residents.
Health issues are a close second.
I put a resolution into the city about the need for mental health supports. I feel like homelessness and the crime is related to the drug trade, and a lot of the drug stuff is related to of course, people self-medicating.
I have been pushing for some sort of treatment or prevention facility to send people with mental health issues. A lot of our health professionals treat people in emergency but they are not mental health practitioners.
If we don’t have any housing and cannot provide work life balance it is hard to retain health care professionals. The city is also trying to find funding to help bring locums in.
We are looking at other alternatives - there are smaller communities doing different pay cycles and streams to get health care providers. We are also working with our university. We don’t have a four-year nursing program and a lot of people don’t want to leave town for two years to finish their degree.
Most people know I was a surrogate for my sister, carrying twins.
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter