full cost of an independent study on Mills Memorial procedures and . financial needs. In making that statement, Strachan said: his ministry and the society had agreed to abide by Walker’s findings, no matter what they might be. This was followed by a statement from Parker: "We're on track, I believe, with | the services of the special consul- . tant who will report to us by the middle of next month with recom- mendations that will see a sol- | ution to our dilema." On Aug. 20, independant health consultant Malcom Walker met privately with the board to review his: interim - report. On Aug. 28 the Terrace Review re-' ported the gist of Walker’s. mes- sage to the board: "Mills Memor- ial Hospital provides a much more complex health care service than your run-of-the-mill, 89-bed hospi- tal." The board and the entire community were elated. Walker completed his study:in late August. On Sept. 4, health care society chairman David Lane told the Terrace Review ‘he was. pleased. "He offered good guid- ance that will help: te make all levels of management more effec- tive and ‘efficient, " Lane told the Review: "He laid to rest the historic statistical ‘comparison of Mills Memorial Hospital to others with- in their’ peer group. In other words, the level of services pro- vided at Mills. is - significantly larger than one would expect’ to find in an 89-bed hospital”. - . Walker also told Lane that none of the services ‘offered at Mills Memorial could be provided more economically elsewhere and for that reason funding should. be based on the range of available services rather than simply on the numher of beds, ; In both recognition and. dol lars, Walker’s final. report was cause for great: optimism. Mills Memorial was finally recognized as a. regional facility that required a higher level of funding. From Walker’s point of view, another . $229,000 in funding... $145,375 in actual dollars, and $73,625 in savings through more efficient operational procedures. At the same _ time, Walker didn't suggest that the Ministry of Health write a blank cheque. He recommended last fall that Mills Memorial Hospital receive a one- time ("ex-global") grant, separate . from the base funding. Leisinger: It’s like last year never happened. Then, after six months, if Mills Memorial was able to dem- onstrate substantial progress on the operational side of things, the amount of that grant, "plus infla- tion", should become a part of the base funding. In other words, a part of the hospital's. annual budget. In February, only five ‘months after Walker’s final recommenda- tion was filed, Mills Memorial wrote a letter to the ministry outlining "substantial" progress in most areas identified by Walker. And, according to Leisinger, "We should feel confident and comfort- able that the money is ours.” - But it didn’t happen. The $145,375 was not included in the 1992/93 budget allotment. Instead, the Ministry of Health sent their Team 5 management ~ group to Terrace to examine our hospital and decide if the progress indicated in the society's February letter actually took place. Team § began their work at Mills Memorial yesterday. It is presumed their findings will con- firm the society's claim of sub- stantial ‘progress, and the $145,375 "plus inflation” will be tacked onto the Mills Memorial. provincial operational allotment for the current year and every year thereafter. Tie still leaves Mills Memor- ial with an unaddressed budget dilemma, however, Realistically, it only catches them up to last year, while at the same time the Health Labour Relations Associ-— ation, with a bottom line set by the provincial government, has already agreed to a new contract for nurses worth around 5% in wage increases and is still negoti- ating with the Hospital Em- ployees’ Union, who is asking for 35% more in wages and benfits over three years. Add to that escalating costs for. supplies and the problem multiplies. Drugs for example, cost about 25% more on average in 1990 than they did in 1989. The cost jumped another 25% in 1991 compred to 1990. And with - pending federal legislation pro- tecting major patents, drugs are expected to cost about 35% more in 1992 than they did in 1991. ._, _The problem with drugs. is . much the same as computer soft- ware, As soon as they get you hooked on one, they release some- thing that’s 10 times better. So it’s easy to see how the . problem for a hospital operating on a .0% budget increase can quickly become an impossible situation. If, for example, a mir- acle cure for AIDS was discovered tomorrow, Mills Memorial Hospi-. tal might be left with a difficult: choice: send all their patients to Vancouver for treatment, or close the kitchen to pay for the drugs.” Actual operational expendi- tures at Mills Memorial Hospital . in the 1991/92 fiscal year were $11,926 million. Mills Memorial administration fairly accurately predicted a 4% inflationary increase in the 1992/93 fiscal year, which meant it would cost about $12.4 million simply to maintain existing services. _ Terrace Review — May 8, 1992