No new leads Santa’s comin’ Let it snow large\NEWS A5 A year after a local woman was murdered, the killer remains at Nelson McGinlay prepares his property for the arrival of Santa Claus\COMMUNITY C1 Shames staff wait for more snow to allow the hill to open by mid- December\SPORTS B7 WEDNESDAY December 8, 1999 $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST- ($1.10. plus 8¢ GST outside of the Tetrace area} VOL. 12 NO, 35 Docs back nurses in hospital battle LOCAL DOCTORS have changed their position on not admitting people to Mills Memorial Hospital. Last month they said they wouldn’t admit people from outside of Terrace and area in recognition of a nursing shortage al the hospital as of Dec. 1. Last week, they extended that to in- clude people from Terrace. With the exception of emergencies, doctors will now follow an admissions guideline set by Mills to keep within its capabililies, says local internist Dr. Michael Kenyon. It also means doctors accept the nursing shortage. which limits. the amount of beds available, he added. “What we are saying is we support ‘our nurses. There aren't enough of them,” said Kenyon last week. “You can only stretch the rubber band so far.” _ The Mills Memorial Hospital guide- line, last issued Nov. 24, says it “is closed to further admissions to the main ward and ICU until further notice, due to an unavailability of nursing. staff and beds.” Kenyon was also critical of a news release coming from area health coun- cils which, he-said; gave the impression that there are no. serious problems at Mills Memorial Hospital, The release, issued Dec. 1, followed a Nov. 26 meeting of health councils which Kenyon also attended, The meeting of nine northwest health councils was the direct result of the lo- cal doctors’ threat to not admit anyone from outside the Terrace area, ' “Our message is clear — Houston we have a problem,” said Kenyon last week, a The release stated people will still be admitted to Mills. But that can’t be possible, with the exception of emergencies, because of the hospital’s own guidelines on its own m@ More hospital stories on pages At2, A13. admission restrictions, said Kenyon. “What we’re doing is protecting our nurses,” he added. The health councils’ release also in- dicated doctors from around the region will be working toward using all avail- able beds in each of the region’s hospi- tals, “This means patients will be shuffled around,” said Kenyon, “So don’t say everything is fine, be- cause everything is not fine.” Kenyon did say the formation of a re- gional committee of doctors to, in the words of the press release, “identify bet- ter communication methods between communities” goes back to something physicians wanted but were denied five Of SO years ago, “The administrative structure in the northwest hasn't caught up,” he said. Kenyon is also unhappy with what he says is an atlempt by Tom Novak, the man now running Mills Memorial Hospi- tal, to deflect attention away from the nursing shortages. Novak is doing that, said Kenyon, by saying all doctors wanl is to make Mills a regional hospital. “We know that isn’t the case, that’s not the issue,” said Kenyon. Instead, when it comes to regional services, Kenyon said doctors want them to be financed as such: “Where the work is done, the bucks should be there,” he sald. Kenyon did acknowledge that the original Dec. 1 no admiltance threat is banned under the Canada Health Act. But he said making the threat has made the issue of the nursing shortage more visible. gi Welcome back EVERY Christmas Nelson McGinlay turns his prop- erty on Highway 16 West into Santa's headquar- Santa ters. He's turning on his lights Dec. 15. Santa will greet children Dec.18-24, For story, see Page B1 Talks to sell Skeena Cellulose move on over into fast lane TALKS aimed at selling Skeena Cellulose have acce- lerated between Enron Carp. and both the provincial government and the union representing Prince Rupert pulp workers, Discussions took place last week and:over Ihe week- end after union reps agreed to halt efforts al getting a court injunction to block any sale of SCI without: the workers’ agreement. Local 4 of the Pulp, Paper’ and. Woodworkers of Ca- : +. weeks notice ‘of: any. move do transfer the shares, said nada (PPWC) is the one holdout pulp mill employee group that has said it doesn’t. want to give-up shares. its. members are earning in SCI. Earlier in the fall they turned down an offer that ‘would have restored the 10 per cent wage cut imposed two years ago in exchange for transfer of the shares. The province, which holds 58 per cent of SCI, needs’ to acquire the remaining shares held by the TD Bank or due ta'the workers for the deai to proceed because Enron wants to acquire 100 per cent of the company.. ~: The union agreed to further talks and 'to drop its court action after: the: province: promised it- would give two = John Sandrelii, ‘the lawyer representing the PPWC.. “Cont'd Page A2 Michael Kenyon Outside patients will be shipped out faster OUT-OF-TOWN patients at Mills Memoriat Hospi- tal can evnect to be sent home sooner than ever be- fore. The policy is an at- tempt to free up as many . beds as possible at the hospital which is strug- gling through a nursing shorlage. Terrace Area Health Council chair Bob Kelly said the policy also re- flects a decision of north- weslern health care offi- cials to use all available hospital beds in the north- west. The policy was adopted at a meeting of health council heads here Nov. 26. He said the health council chairs agreed that northwest hospitals would begin transporting out-of- town patients back from Mills to their home hospi- tals, as soon as it was medically appropriate. “Instead of keeping pa- tients until they’re well enough to go home, we would ship them back to their home hospitals and they can recover back there,” Kelly said. This move will free up beds atid provide more services here, he ex- plained said. Kelly added that if there isn’t bed or the re- sources to look after a pa- tient at Mills, that patient will be looked after until a bed is found elsewhere in the region. Another initiative re- sulting from the area’s heaith council chairs meeting included the for- mation of a regional medi- cal affairs commitlee (MAC). This committee, made up of of physicians from around the northwest, will idenlify belter communi- cation methods. between communitics to provide more comprehensive med- ical service to northwest residents, Kelly said northwest doctors will meet on a reg- ular basis to talk about how to share beds and workloads and couperate with each other. Both Kelly and Tom Novak, acting chief ad- ministrator of the Terrace health council, said the meeling, of the heads .of the local health authorities was very positive, cncour- aging health councils to cooperate and share work- loads, “(The meeting] should have happened years ago,” Novak said. “I thought it was needed.” The 10 health authori- ties in the northwest in- clude: the Nisga’a Valley Health Board (New Aiyansh), Bulkley Valley Health Council (Smithers), Kitimat and . Area Health Council (Kitimat), North Coast Communily Health Coun- cil (Prince Rupert), Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii Community Health Council (Queen Charlotte City), Snow Country health Council (Stewart), ‘Stikine Health Council (Dease Lake), Terrace and Area Health Council (Terrace), Upper Skeena Health Council (Hazelton) and North West Communi- ty Health Services Society (Terrace.) Multiplex plan lives on DON’T CONSIDER the multiplex down and out just yet, says the city’s parks and recreation direc- tor. The city has two years to use the Yes vote Ter- race residents delivered in the Nov. 20 referendum even though an important condition ~ that the bor- rowing of up to $7.6 mil- lion be done with the par- ticipation of rural areas - is not yet fulfilled. The two-year window, set out in the Municipal Act, is important because it buys the city plenty of time to.seek outside moncy for the project ‘as well as ways to bring tural voters on side, said Scolt. “In the technical sense the city passed: the refer- endum,” Scott said Friday, ‘noting the 55 per cent Yes vate within Terrace. “The city was the one seeking to borrow. the money and the city would “be the one actually. taking out ‘the: foan,” he - said, adding the rural No vole doesn’t slop that from hap- pening. The city can’t simply take out the loan and start building the project right away, however. Scott says it must either bring tural residents on side through a future rural- only referendum or clse ensure the cost to Terrace taxpayers won't. be any higher than they were pro- mised during the referen- dum campaign. Rural areas would have covered about 30: per cent of the debt payments, sup- porting up te. $2.3 million if the entire $7.6 million cost Was borrowed. _ The city could build the Multiplex: without the rural area if it finds at feast $2.3 million From other sources to replace. the contribution tural taxpayers: would have made, Scott suggested. Under that scenutio, the $7.6 million complex would be built with: the same: $5.3 million -expec- ted. from’ Terrace tax- payers, and the same im- Steve Scott © pact on Terrace property taxes. “We have to find an amount from: other sources at least equal .to. the amount we were going ta ask from. the regivnal district,” Scott said. ~ lf there's a grey area in the city interpretation of the options ‘available it ar- ‘ises because ‘the referen- dum ‘question approved in Terrace asked “permission to borrow up. to $7.6 -mil- lion “with the participation of the regional district.” Cont'd Page A2