Patient, caseload increases

THE PHYSIOTHERAPY
department at Mills
Memorial Hospital is over-
burdened to the point the
waiting list numbers more
than 40 people,

Some of those, depending
upon what's needed, have to
wait more than two months
for treatment.

And department head
Anne Leclerc sees no end in
sight.

The problem began last
year when the only private

physiotherapy clinic in
town, Kermodei
Physiotherapy, increased

user fees for an initial visit
and for subsequent ones.
This meant that people
who had no extra coverage
other then that provided by
the provincial Medical Ser-
vices Plan and who couldn't
afford the increased fees be-
gan going to Mills instead.

“The demand has
skyrocketed to the
point we're con-
cerned about
providing service,”
she added.

**We were never slack in
here in the first place,” said
Leclerc of the demands on
her department to help reha-
bilitate hospital patients as
well as walk-in traffic.

“Now the demand has
skyrocketed to the point
we're concerned about
providing service,” she
added.

The department has the
equivalent of 2.4 full time
employees — a fill time
physiotherapist, Leclerc
who does physio work 80
per cent of her time while
spending 20 per cent on ad-
ministration and a part time
aide.

That's not-enough to meet
an in-patient and oul paticnt
caseload which; last month,
numbered 116.

It’s a large increase since
last fall, before the private
_ clinic increased user fees,
when average monthly
caseloads numbered in the
70s and 80s.

But the budget for the

physiotherapy department
hasn’t increased to meet the
demand and there’s no sign
it ever will, says Leclerc.

She says four to five full
time equivalent physio posi-
tions are needed to mect the
increasing demand,

As it is, the $126,000 de-

partment budget is less —

far less —~ than for depart-
ments at equivalent size
hospitals across the pro-
vince.

Kitimat Hospilal’s physio
department, for instance,
has 6 full time equivalent

workers and a budget of

$300,000,

The waiting list there is
between one or two weeks
for a population base of less
than half of the one covered
by Mills,

That means, says Leclerc,
people from Terrace are
driving south to Kitimat for
physio care.

Those going to the physio
department at Mills are as-
sessed on the basis of the
Seriousness of their condi-
tion.

Hospital patients recover-
ing from major surgery or
trauma or who have had
joint replacement operations
top the priority list.

People wilh chronic prob-
Jems such as knee, back or
neck pain are placed at the
bottom.

That kind of decision
making makes Leclerc un-
comfortable. vs

As well, a waiting list of
more than two months is
double the accepted stan-
dard for people waiting for
treatment.

“'Those people are suffer-
ing,’ she says and can’t
even take advantage of

some of the pain ieélict’
‘methods Offered ‘by’ the’

physio department.

Fee structure disputed

THAT LARGE beach ball-looking device on which Mills physiotherapy depart-

-at hospital physio clinic

Bs a

ment manager Anne Leclerc is sitting helps those with strokes to laam how to
walk and move again. She and physio Brett Wiebe, in the back, are burdened by
a high caseload and a large waiting list.

It’s, not uncommon for

voVee frages era: 7 4

Leclerc, or for the full time’

physiotherapist, ‘” Brett
Wiebe, to see more people

per day than what isrecom- Is
merided in order for cach to, the, straincd’ budget makes
receive the kind of care arid

attention they deserve.

Physios, gov’t in tangle

PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN-
CREASED vwser fees last
fall after failing to receive
tmore money from the
provincial § government’s
Medical Services Plan.

As is the case with other
health care professionls,
physiotherapists are in a dis-
pute with the province over
how much they should be
paid.

The fee increase, from $10
to $20, introduced here by

the only private
physiotherapist clinic in
town, Kermodei

Physiotherapy, as of Nov. 2,
1997 covers the increased
cost of doing business, said
physiotherapists at the time.

Without an increase in
user fees, physiotherapists
warned that they won't be
able to afford to stay in
business.

Although physios can sce
more people to eam more
income, they worry that
quality of care will then suf-
fer.

And they say the number
of people seeking treatment

grows as the population in- -

creases.

Those who do face the
user fee increase can
recover it if they have
coverage beyond the basic
Medical Services Plan,

Kermodei Physiotherapy
introduced what it called a
softening out approach in
that while patients paid the
user fee up front, the clinic
would claim what it could
from the Medical Services

Plan.

Other clinics in other
places opted out of the
Medical Services Plan

altogether, leaving patients ,
fo pay the user fee and the -

bill. They then have to ap-
proach the Medical Services
Plan themselves for reim-
bursement of the amount the
plan.would cover.

PRIVATE PHYSIOTHERAPY

clinics, including

Kermodei Physiotherapy, Increased user fees for
patients last year. That's physio Lori Janzen, left, with
a patient. Although costs have increased, physios

say that hdsn't been accompanied by a fee increase

Wiebe also points out that

no allowance for holiday or

sick leave coverage.

from the province. In fact, physios had fees clawed
back whan billings threatened to overtake the budget
set by the province for physlotherapy services.

ra

WCB patients aren't af-

‘fected by user fees at
’ Kermodei = Physiotherapy,
‘Neither are ICBC patients
“provided they were not at
* fault from an accident which
caused them tc need treat-
ment in the first place,
Health ministry official
Jeff Gaulln said
physiotherapists, as was the
‘ case with other health care
professionals, agreed last
year to a cap on billings.

_ Any amounts past the
$26.9 million in the budget
_Jast year for physiotherapy
across the province would
be clawed back by the
Medical Services Plan.

That agreement resulted in|

.4 9 per cent reduction effec-
tive August 1997 in pay-
* ments going to
physiotherapisis for the
‘budget year ending March
31, 1998,
“This was a forniula

. ss

‘agreed to by all the

physiotherapists, That if the
pool amount in the budget

-was going to be exceeded, .

there would be an adjust-

* ment in fees,’’ said Gaulin.

That clawback ended
when the new fiscal year be-
gan this April but the claw-
back provision still exists
should payments
threaten to exceed the
physiotherapist budget for
this'year, said Gaulin,

again,

4

The Medical Ser-
vices Plan budget for this
year has yet to be set.
Gaulin said —BC.’s
coverage of physiotherapy
is among the best in Canada.
And whereas the federal
government provides money
to the provinces for hospital
care and services, any
money for physiotherapy
comes solely from ;the
provincial goverament.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 27, 1998 - A? *

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

~The Mail Bag

Non-Nisga’a not at risk

Dear Sir:

T would like to clearly state the province’s position
regarding the proposed Nisga’a trealy and the issues
raiscd by Nass Valley resident Lloyd Brinson in his
May 6 letter to the The Terrace Standard.

The province’s positions are clear:

* Existing private property will not be included in the
Nisga’a Treaty Settlement Lands and will not be sub-
ject to Nisga’a government jurisdiction;

* Access to private lands will be unimpeded; a

* Existing water licences will continue under provin-
cial legislation and new applications, whether by the
Nisga’a or by others, will be dealt with by the existing -
provincial licensing process; .

* Nisga’a government must have forest practice stan-
dards to protect watersheds which meet or exceed ex-,
isting provincial standards for Crown land; .

* Non-Nisga’a residents of and within Nisga’a lands |
must be consulted about Nisga’a government decisions -
which directly and significantly affect them, and will
haye the ability to obtain a review of these decisions, .
and;

* Non-Nisga’a residents will be able to participate in '
Nisga'a public institutions which directly and sig--
nificantly affect them, such as school and health
boards.

I understand the provincial negotiating team has dis- °
cussed these issues with Lloyd Brinson and the Nass °
Valley residents on a number of occasions.

Thope the points I have made will assist Mz. Brinson
to better understand the proposals in the Nisga’a treaty.

Dale Lovick, Minister, .
Aboriginal Affairs .
(received via email) -

Floundering Capt. Clark

Dear Sir: :
Federal fisheries minister David Anderson and his
negotiators are fathoming cut a new Pacific Salmon
Treaty with finesse, science acumen and a pragmalic,
all-stakeholder inclusive approach with the Americans. -
A leaked interim document is extrapolated and
stretched by the NDP to mean we've entirely forswom
our rights to the salmon catch. Why is it thal Premier’
Clark, his fisheries minister Dennis Streiffel and his.
UFAWU deckhands always cast a beachline to the.
media, hoist the Jolly Roger on the mizzen main and
seta collision course to sabotage Canada?

Last year we had Glen Clark condoning a Law of the -
Seas act of terrorism — the Alaska Ferry blockade...
This year his cabinet peous rush to approve a big mine’
in the high fishbearing Taku River drainage which
empties into Alaska’s state capital of Juneau, This in- .
censes the Alaskans, the Tlinglit First Nation and_
cross-boundary environmental groups triggering Govy-
emor Tony Knowles to send this matter to the Interna-.
tional Joint Commission for a ruling. .

If the NDP aren't the most asinine purveyors of
suicidal diplomacy — and bigots to gumboot — then a”
coho’s my uncle. They’ve weakened the Forests Prac-,;
tices Code to fast-tracking culblock rates of harvest at a_

pace which habitat. biologists and -hydrologists-cannot
conduct requisite field analyses to mect:sign-offs on
permits in prime salmon producing watersheds.

Other than frustratingly causing real hann to the
treaty talks and salmon stocks, I’d ask Clark and Strief-.
fel ct al scallywags to net-out their bottom feeding:
jargon and deliver us examples of B.C.'s advancement.
toward the longevity of sustainable salmon runs, :

a Gerry Bloomer, Lakelse Lake, B.C,’
(received via email):

Fish over politics

An open letter to:
All Pacific salmon treaty negotiators

Dear Sirs: ,

One hears and reads in the media of yet another fail-,
ure to come to agreenient on managing the Pacific sal-
mon stocks. Spokesmen for various negotiating groups.
retreat behind rhetoric of disappointment, usually.
claiming the intransigence of one of the other negotiat-,
ing parties to have been the sticking point which pre-
vented agreement.

Such phrases as ‘‘Alaskans are greedy, ‘British
Columbians are stubborn’’, ‘‘Americans are bullies”
are served up as editorial fodder, catch-of-the-day ’
news. "

How pathetic. Brinksmanship win-lose negotiating .
appears to be well on its way to facilitating the collapse’
of another fishery, if not the near extinction of a num- '
ber of species. '

If your negoliations fail to create some agreement
that protects Pacific salmon stocks, if you allow macho '
nationalist self-interest to engineer another tragedy of
the commons on North America’s western shores, you
will have, through omission, done a terrible thing, :

Perhaps in the future a new category will enter a°
World Criminal Code — diocriminal. It would be «
reserved for those in positions of influence and respon-
sibility who knowingly acted in a way that seriously.
threalened survival of a species.

Surely any negotiating stance that puts national pride
or temporary financial gain ahead of the survival of a
species deserves condemnation and contempt

Surely a fair portion of a carefully tended sustainable
fishery is better than obtaining even all of a diminish-
ing, collapsing one.

I appeal to you to settle our differences quickly and
to look to the very real and imminent danger that
threatens the fish, If various biological species continue

. to disappear, we're not far behind. ‘
A. Lehman, Terrace B.C,

.

i

The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor.
Our deadline is noon Friday for the following Wed.
nesday’s issue. Our mailing address is 3210 Clinton

St, Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. Our fax number iy 250.

638-8432. We particularly welcome letters via e-mail,
Our e-mail address is
slandard@kermode.net

More letters, BS