A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 27, 1995

“TERRACE. —
ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. « V8G 158
TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432
. MODEM: (G04) 638-7247

Amputation

MILLS MEMORIAL Hospital is caught i in a
financial version of a leg hold trap. It’s at the
point where it’s going to have to gnaw off one
leg for any chance of survival.

What’s left isn’t going to be pretty — a
wounded creature: dragging along leaving a
bloody trail in its wake.

After four years of successive zero budget in-
creases — in effect spending cuts once inflation
is taken into account — Mills has already closed
beds, cut staff and done everything but insist that
patients bring theit own toilet paper in an effort
to balance its shaky books.

And once more Mills is being asked to make
further reductions in its beds. This time the
damage is going to be more severe in terms of
job loss and ultimately, the level of service it can
provide.

The numbers are staggering. As much as $1
million will have to be chopped. As many as 12
beds from the 42 now dedicated to pediatrics,
maternity, intensive. care and medical-surgery
will be put into mothballs.

The problem is that Mills receives only so
much money for so many patients. Anything
over that and the red ink begins to flow.

One reason is that Mills has for years acted as a
regional hospital without receiving financial
recognition for this from the provincial govern-
ment,

It did so for all the right reasons. The growth of
the northwest has increased demands for special-
ized medical services. That need has attracted
highly skilled specialists requiring extra money
for equipment, highly trained employees to back
up those services and more money.

“Mills: ‘happ y-aciéd as. the northwest host for
these services. Terrace and area benefited be-
cause without the additional population of the
northwest, there wouldn’t have been enough
work to keep our specialists occupied. |

But now, as money tightens up, that fatal flaw
of acting as a regional hospital without sufficient
financial back up is beginning to show. Mills is
simply attracting too many people from outside
of its immediate geographic area. That increases
pressure on. the increasingly number of limited
beds available. -

All of this leads to a nasty conclusion — reduce
the number of patients being admitted to the hos-
pital. This can be done obviously be done by cut-
ting back on the number of services the hospital
provides,

But should this happen, a downward spiral will
occur. The departure of one specialist will lead
to the departure of others as they operate not in-
dependently but in concert with each other.

And that means the planes down south will
once more be filled with people headed else-
where for specialized medical treatment.

The very real question facing all of us is do we
want this to happen? Should we stand for a
reduction in medical care?

Mills Memorial may very well be forced into a
self-inflicted amputation by abandoning the
honourable goal of regional service. It may have
to sew up a bloody stump and hobble along on a
pair of crutches. But before’ that happens, we
must do our best to free Mills from its leghold
trap.

OOK (5 PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link
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Serving the Terrace and Thomiil| area. Published on Wednesday of aach week by Garoa Prass (1969)
Lid, at 4647 Lazetle Ave., Terfata, British Columbia. ,
Storlas, phatogrephs, iltisteations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard afe the property of the
sopyngt holders, including Cariboo Press (1989 Lid., is ilfustration fapra sarvioss and advertising
agencies.

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cOoNA #
“ymeuniap
BIICULATHEN:

CONTAC!.LEG

Special thanks to all our contributors ‘and correspondents:
fort thelr time and talents .

‘ 3

VICTORIA — I’ve got some
unsolicited advice for Gordon
Campbell: Don’t trist that

Rather than pointing the way
to the premier’s office, it may
be an oncoming NDP train.

Just when it looked like the
NDP was destined to continue
languishing in the public’s dis-
favor, along comes an Angus
Reid pall that puts them right
back in the race.

The poll, conducted between

the lead, are losing. ground to
the resurgent NDP. >

Down nine percentage points
since November, the Liberals
came in at 40 per cent, while
the NDP scored 30 per cent,

with 22 per cent" >
The  governnient’s -  per-
formance rating jumped ‘nine
points to 49 per cent, the high-
est rating since August 1994,
The poll. was based on
responses from 605 -British
Coluinbia residents. Jt is con-
sidered accurate to within 4,1
per cent, 19 times out of 20,
and according to Angus Reid
officials, the sampling is suffi-

public's mood.

YARD LIGHTING is recom-
mended by both RCMP and
Neighbourhuod Watch as a
_ deterrent to crime. And when
street lighting was  con-
templated for Thornhill, one of
the arguments for it was that
street — lighting.
pedestrian safety.

comer of Walker. and Clore has
been out for over a month.

Between = Waiker-Haaland

. and Copper Mountain lies an
undeveloped: block of land
studded with scrub alder and
thimbleberry bushes, — dirt
humps and gullies, Young folk
play there, sliding. on their
sleighs, riding four-wheelers.
lv’s also.a favourite dog-
walking corridor,

The Walker-Clore street light
makes the area safer for every-
one, and lets caring. parents
keep an eye on their kids from
the kitchen window. Without

ROOK UMS

Bey

nome

Asis PAYMENTS?

“WuMBUG!

light at the end of the tunnel,

Dec.1 and Dec. 12, found that |
the Liberals, although still in,

FROM THE: CAPITAL”
HUBERT BEYER

followed by the Reform. Party a

cient to accuralely gauge the asks’

Like P’ve said all along: only .

a fool would count the NDP ©

out.

And what should worry the
Liberals and the Reformers
even more is the momentum

the NDP. will develop, in the: ;

months to come. Between how

and election time’, the spotlight’

will be on the NDP.

First, there’s the leadership

race, an event that will receive

wide publicity, _ particularly
since the winner will automati-
cally become premier,

Then’ there will be the
changes a new premier will.un-
doubtedly make, From the mo-
ment of his or her swearing in
to the minute the new premier

Lieutenant-Govemor
Garde Gardom to dissolve the
- Legislature, making way for

increases “|.

Yet the strect light at “the a ;

CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

THROUGH BIFOGALS.

the light, that field and corner
is a prowier’s paradise,

Neighbourhood Watch works
because residents can identify
slrangers. Strect lights reveal
parked chrome and pedestrians
for fair distances, and the very
presence of lights discourages
crime. But how can residents
distinguish friends from foe in
‘the dark?

Not REALLY |
THEYRE ALL.
One ANT |

the election, the media will
have the new premier under a
microscope.

And finally, there’s the
budget, which in spite of cut-
backs in federal transfer pay-
ments, will be balanced, some-
thing that is going to require a
bit of a Scrooge attitude on the
part of the government.

To that end, finance minister
Elizabeth Cull has already told
the public service there will be
no pay increase next year,
Other belt-tightening measures
can be expected.

The rule of thumb is that a
government going inte an elec-

‘ tion can overcome an eight-
handicap, .

percentage-point
The NDP has already closed
the Zap © within 10 points,

and” With™ all “ie® ‘publicity,

resulting from the above-
mentioned events, I wouldn’t
be surprised if the Liberals and
the NDP were neck to neck out
of the starting gate.

Whether Mike Harcourt’s
resignation as premier had
anything to do with the NDP’s
rise in popularity is debatable.
He says, no. I tend to believe it
did. But whatever the reason,
Harcourt, was smart not to
bathe in the glory of the poll,
warning instead that it would
be foolish to predict an NDP

Sched a little light, please

task-to-he-done blackboard,’ oe

Vancouver has a safety com-
mittee that touxs neighbour-
hoods looking for areas that
could be made safer by extra
lighting, trimming, bushes, or
painting surfaces white.

Similarly in Terrace, Con-

‘stable Kim Hall wants to hear

from you if you think that
some of Terrace’s strects could
use an extra street light of if
bushes should be cleared. She

| promises to send your requests

along 1o city hall.
But in Thombill, report a
burned out street light to B.C.

" Hydro and what happens? In

this case, nothing.

I’m in the dark about why
nothing has been done.

Maybe my phone message
wasn’t passed along to the per-
son in charge of replacing light
bulbs. Or it ended as a post-it-
note which lost its grip and
was trampled, Or someone ac-
cidentally wiped it from the

(DENTICAL:»:

-

MAKING ASPEN GRovES

NDP climbing out of hole

victory. :

“New Democrats are compe:
titive for the next election,” he -.
said. ‘‘That docsn’t mean
we're taking it for granted. We _
know we've got.a real fight on
our bands because we’re un- —
derdogs.’’

Whatever the outcome of the
next election, the Angus Reid
poll assures us that there will
at least be a hot contest. And
that’s how itshouldbe.

And now, allow me to bid
farewell to Emery Barnes.
After serving in the British.
Columbia legislature for 23
years, Big Em, the former B.C,
Lions player, announced that
he will not seck re-election.
More the pily. ;

Bames acquilled himself of
his“duties as few others’ have.
He camed: the respect of his
calleagues from all sides of the
House. A giant of a man, with
a genlle heart, Baracs com-
manded the attention of all
MLAs,

As Speaker . of the Legisla:
lure, Barnes quickly became an ~
even- handed referee. He will
be sorely missed, Good luck,
Big Em, and thank you, :

Beyer can be reached at:
Tel:(604) ' 360-6442;
Fax:(604) 381- 6922;E-Mail:
hbeyer@direct.ca~

Realistic and charitable as 1
am, I blame the delay on frigid
temperatures ‘and. hurricane -
winds, which created _ work
more urgent, more vital than
exchanging light bulbs. Work
light replacing transformers:
righting toppled power poles:
restoring power to half: of
Thorahilt.

I consider it my civic duty lo
teport -out-of-service ~ street
lights, After all, during the
daylight, how can hydro,
regional district, or highways
personnel tell as they drive by
whether a street light is: in
working order?

When I report, I don’ t expect
the light ta be Hit by the next
night, or even the next week.
But a month! .

If a street light on Walker--
Clore was deemed necessary; i it:
should be kept lit. Safety | iS:
constant issue,

2 AMAZING How YOU MEAN THEY RE.
SAU THESE ASPENS NoT INDIVIDUALS? THE BIGGEST PLANTS}
TURN THE she bi ‘ALL ONE 5 iN THE WORLD! ~ A
Colo Le 00;
ol RIN F GENETICALLY TAKE. THAT

MR.GUINESS |

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mt reaps