It was a classic case of the rumour mill going into overdrive.

Within hours on Monday, e-mail lists, grocery store line-ups and coffee shops were abuzz with talk of VIHA’s supposed plans to close Lady Minto Hospital.

They might as well have announced a planned bridge to Crofton, thrown a few fish farms into Fulford Harbour and commenced discussion on a three-day school week.

After months of talk about the operating room closure and staffing shortages, island residents are justifiably concerned about plans for their hospital.

News of a Thursday afternoon information session quickly erupted into a “save our hospital” rally and callers were contacting the Driftwood to spread the word.

It was a full-on panic.

What transpired is proof that, although we live in an age of unprecedented communication, the potential for spreading misinformation is easier than ever.

The experience offers a further comment on the state of communications efforts on behalf of the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). With 13 staff members spread out across its jurisdiction, the organization surely has the resources to deliver a simple message to our island’s 9,600 residents.

We’ll soon find out if that’s the case when an audit into VIHA’s “current activity and capacity in the areas of public relations, international and external communications, community engagement and government relations” is set to wrap up on Nov. 28.

As communications departments take on increasingly larger roles at government-run agencies across the province and the country, members of the public, including journalists, face additional barriers when it comes to getting the goods.

A communications officer can prevent pesky reporters from disturbing people trying to get a job done, but the solution to one problem has created an entirely new one.

Instead of getting straight answers to legitimate questions, right from the source, public relations personnel promise to return calls that never occur or deliver suspiciously vague answers.

One effect of the system is to make everyone question whether what they’re hearing is the truth, which can be a bad thing. But it might not hurt to apply the same response to those e-mails of alarm when they start roaring around our island.