PoCo alderman knocks

hespital board member

The blame for Port
Coquitlam council's ignorance
of the progress of the proposed
acute and extended-care
hospital can be laid to the
city’s representative on the
board of the Coquitlam and
District Hospital Society, an
alderman suggested to council

- Monday night.

Ald. Phil Meyer said council
is “lacking in reports on
procedures and progress of
the Coquitlam hospital board”
from Monica Angus.

And he went on to add that

council’s uninformed position
on hospital developments
could be remedied by reports
from Mrs. Angus.
_ “And if that fails,’’ he said,
“perhaps we should consider
getting another represen-
tative.”

The remarks came while
council was mulling over a
letter from A. I. Smith,
secretary-treasurer of the

- hospital society board.

Mr. Smith expressed con-
cern that Port Coquitlam

council was seeking a meeting -

with Health Minister Dennis
Cocke and the councils of Port
Moody and Coquitlam to
discuss the proposed hospital
— without consulting the
hospital board first.

Mr. Smith said the hospital
society board was willing to
meet with any of the councils
anytime, but went on to point
out that the board is a
“properly constituted com-
munity agency charged under
the regulations with the
planning and construction of
such a hospital jointly with the
GVRHD (Greater Vancouver
Regional Hospital District)
and government agencies.”

The letter went'‘on: “It doés**~

seem possible that current
publicity is confusing to the

citizens and might be avoided

toe 2 '

4

ys

Ald, Phil Meyer

“,.. council uninformed.”

by more frequent and open
communications.”

Port Coquitlam council
earlier this month called for
the joint meeting after Ald.
Meyer charged that ‘a
significant number of doc-
tors” who practice in the
Coquitlam area were not
happy with the hospital as
proposed.

Ald. Meyer suggested then
the doctors were not going to
request admittance privileges
when the new hespital opened.

On Monday night he
reiterated his earlier claim,
but altered it slightly, saying:
“There are a_ significant
number of doctors who are not
involved in a meaningful
way” in the planning of the
hospital.

His motion that council ask
Mrs. Angus for a_ written
report on the decisions of the
hospital society board was
adopted unanimously..

Reached for her reaction
Tuesday, Mr. Angus denied
she hadn’t kept council in-
formed of the activities of the
hospital society in planning
for the new hospital.

“T have always not only
written reports to our council,
but I have appeared when it
asked me to,” she said.

Mrs. Angus also pointed out
she is not the city’s
“representative”? on the
hospital society beard, but
rather its “nominee.”

She said her position on the
board was similar to that of a
school trustee, adding: “My -
responsibility is to the hospital
board and not to Port
Coquitlam particularly.”

Mrs. Angus said her ap-
pointment to the board must
be ratified by the other two
municipalities in School
District 43.

She said when she was
appointed, the then mayor,
Jack Campbell told her to
report whenever something of
interest to Port Coquitlam
came up.

She continued this through
Mayor Bruce Scott’s two-year
term, she explained, reporting
verbally to him “on a number
of occasions.

“That’s how I’ve tried to
communicate when something
important comes up,” she
said.

In addition, she said she had
reported to council through
the chairman of the health and
welfare committee, Ald.
Meyer, but said she “would
much rather appear before
council myself than be quoted
second hand.”

She said the minutes and all
the board’s meetings are open
to the pwblic and went on to
add that council’s motion
Monday calling for written
reports on the  board’s
decisions would create an
initial hardship on the
secretary.

“We have no staff or budget
and we all work on a voluntary
basis,’”’ she said.