A14 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Health authority makes city
a central distribution hub

THE NORTHERN Health
Authority continues to
work on reducing its costs
in the northwest by crea-
ting a hub here for the dis-
tribution of supplies for
area health care facilities.
It’s meant cutting the
equivalent of nearly three
jobs in Prince Rupert but
will result in one addition-
al job here, says authority
official Mark Karjaluoto.
“By creating central
distribution points ‘we
know we can become
more efficient,” he said.
Terrace was chosen as

Sutherland
Watch out,
says nurse

CREEPING PRIVATIZA-
TION of health care will

Ros

cost more, be less ac-
countable and deliver
fewer services, an Ontario
registered aurse told a
meeting here recently.

Ross Sutherland visited
Terrace as part of a pro-
vincial tour financed by
the B.C. Nurses’ Union
warning of the dangers of
turning public health care
over to private enterprise.

Ontario has been
through the same changes
now underway in B.C. and
the results aren’t good, he
said.

“There’s a belief out
there that the for-profit
sector can do it better. Da
it cheaper. They can do it
for hamburger so why not
for health care,” Suther-
land said.

“But all the research
says that it is more expen-
sive and the quality isn’t
-there.”

“When they say faster,
betler and cheaper, we
have to ask for whom.”

What has happened in
Ontario, continued Suther-
land, is an expansion of
private contractors with
each one requiring a se-
parate bureaucracy.

“Each one of those
agencies has a structure
and that costs money to do
that,” he said.

And studies show that
procedures such as MRI
scans offered by private
contractors actually cost
more than if done under a
public service, Sutherland
added.

He said the Ontario ex-
perience has shown the
move to privatization is
driven by large companies
wanting a piece of the
health care budget.

“We spend $100 billion

the hub for the northwest
because of its central lo-
cation for transportation
connections and because
af easy access to high

speed internet connections. .
“If we don’t start taking:

steps to ‘streamline our
operations and make our

non-clinical “services: more

efficient, then. we'll have
to start making service cut
decisions and thal's not
what we want to'do,” said
Karjalucto,

Along with the creation
of supply distribution hubs,
the authority has signed on
with a national buying
group called MedBuy.

t’s a non-profit organi-
zation owned by those who
belong to it with the idea
of achieving discounts

=~ Other

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“We're starting to see
real benefits, as much as
$630,000 a year,” said
Karjaluoto.
“These are the same
supplies we've always

‘used, we’re just doing it a

different way.”
“non-clinical
changes being planned in-
clude a further integration
of laundry services in the
northwest.

- As it is, Mills Memorial
Hospital and Terraceview
Lodge for years have had

‘their laundry done at a

large facility which is part
of Kitimat General Haspi-
tal first in its old facility
and continuing at the new
Kitimat hospital that

opened earlier this year.

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As well, hospitals and
other health care facilities
are moving to buy more
processed food supplies in
arder to reduce employee
time and expenditures.

The authority had hoped
to be running a modest
surplus this year to buffer a
planned deficit next year
but as of late summer, was
approximately $1.3 million
in the red.

It means extra efforts
must be made to overcome
the unanticipated deficit,
said Karjaluoto.

The authority has had
its grant from the provin-
cial government capped
for three years but has also
promised to have a bal-
anced budget by the end of
its 2003-2004 fiscal year.

Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine °
of Election by Acclamation

la Notice

The following candidates have been elected by acclamation to hold office as
Director of the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine Board for a three-year term
commencing December 2002 and terminating December 2005.

NOTICE OF ELECTION BY ACCLAMATION

Surname Given Name Electoral Area

Nyce Harry A, Nass Valley, Meziadin

Roisum | Frederick B, Area surrounding the Hazeltons’
(Kispiox Valley, Two Mile, South
Hazelton} —

Cooper Robert C, Area surrounding Terrace
(Gassen, Kleanza, Lakelse Lake,
Rosswood, New Remo, Old Remo,
Jackpine Flats)

Brocklebank David D, Telegraph Creek, Iskut, Bob Quinn

Watmough Leslie E, Thornhill

Elaine Johnson

Chief Elections Officer

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Sutherland’s preference : reseees a = Pg =

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“To change the system,
it is best to work within
the public system,” he
said.

“If we move toward for-
profit care, we'll lose all
accountability.”

Sutherland said that
lack of accountability is
growing in Ontario, parti-
cularly in home care.

More than $1 billion in
home care spending has
been maved to the private
sector away from scrutiny
under freedom of informa-
tion legislation, he added,

“We have no idea how
well that money is being
spent,” Sutherland said.

He also noted B.C. is
now going through what
Ontario did in the early

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