Irene Olsen of Westbank is out several hundred dollars and you might want to double check your bank statement.

A major debit card scheme has hit the Okanagan Valley and the number of victims keeps piling up.

Castanet first received word of the debit scam this week when a number of readers indicated that they had been ripped off after using their card at various businesses including Staples in Westbank.

Olson says she found out that her bank account had been compromised after trying to use her debit card.

Link: Debit card scam rocks valley

There are renewed calls for an emergency care ward on the Westside as the result of one man's experience at a local walk-in clinic.

The man's name is Ralph who rushed to the Westridge walk-in clinic Wednesday with a busted hand.

"I went to the walk-in clinic with a crushed hand and found the doors locked with a sign saying that they exceeded their people limit for the day. Is this some kind of sick joke? Do we have to be "lucky" enough to get hurt or sick in the morning hours now to get into a walk-in clinic on the Westside?"

Ralph went to another walk-in clinic on the Westside and says it was packed with patients.

"I went to the other walk-in clinic by Save-On Foods, and it was like looking at an ant pile. It was literally wall to wall people, with standing room only."

The Interior Health Authority says it has no jurisdiction over private walk-in clinics.

"How physicians get paid and how many patients they see a day is part of an agreement between the BC Medical Association and the province, the IHA has nothing to do with that," says spokesperson, Alison Paine. "The walk-in clinics are owned and run by physicians. They're not our employees."

The BC Medical Association says doctors at private clinics have a right to refuse accepting patients after 50 but they have to ensure that medical access is available elsewhere.

"For instance, there's probably another walk-in clinic in the area or hospital emergency ward, they just wouldn't leave the patient high and dry," says spokesperson, Sharon Shore.

She says under the agreement doctors have reached with the provincial government, doctors at private clinics are paid the full rate for up to 50 patients and after that, it's pro-rated.

"From 51 to 65 patients, the doctors get 50 per cent of the rate and anything above that they get nothing. The reason for that is so patients don't get shuffled through the system as fast as they possibly can. The idea is that doctors spend a decent amount of time with their patients."

Shore says it's not uncommon for private clinics to close their doors after seeing their allotment of patients.

The Westridge walk-in clinic says it's experiencing a doctor shortage because of summer vacation.

The Interior Health Authority and Westside Council are working together in trying to set-up a health centre, but have run into a roadblock with the Agriculture Land Commission over the removal of a chunk of land from the ALR for such a facility.