The last three weeks in the Bulkley Valley have shown COVID-19 cases are six times more prevalent than in the Greater Vancouver Area.

Bulkley Valley, for those who are unfamiliar, is a remote region of northern BC that ranges from the Prince George west to the coast of the province.

Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix spoke to the people of Northern Health via a telephone town hall meeting on September 27th. Frustrations were voiced from many residents of Northern Health (and especially Smithers) about the low vaccination rate in the north (save for a handful of communities who have a very high vaccination rate and low case numbers such as Kitimat, Terrace, and Nisga'a Territory).

CICK News spoke with Cormac Hikisch, a health administrator with Northern Health about the impact of these case numbers on the community and how residents of Northern Health are to understand why their loved ones are being moved to other communities.

We spoke about the metric of assessment to determine which non-COVID-19 residents of the Bulkley Lodge, a healthcare and longterm facility in Smithers and the Bulkley Valley Hospital were to be diverted to other community hospitals such as Terrace and Burns Lake.

Listen to the full interview with Cormac Hikisch below.