Big box store grows

The Real Canadian Wholesale
Club plans a major expansion of
its Terrace Store\NEWS Aili —

Get educated

Local society offers help and
support to those in abusive _
relationships\COMMUNITY B1

Count ‘em

Terrace youth soccer teams won
five medals over the Riverboat
Days weekend\SPORTS B5

WEDNESDAY
August 16, 2000

Fund
tapped
to pay
doctors

AFTER NEARLY a de-
cade of health care budget
cuts, bed closures, and
surgical delays, taxpayers
have to ask themselves
where the money’s coming
from all of a sudden to

sign million-dollar fee in- |

crease deals with doctors.

The answer is a relat-
ively unknown account
called the alternate pay-
ments plan, a pot of

money separate from the -

main, fee for service
Medical Services Plan
program.

This year the alterna-
tive payments plan
amounts to $158 million.

@ Doctors strike
averted — for now.
Page A12

By comparison, there’s
$1.545 billion set aside for
normal billings under the
Medical-Services Plan.

Traditionally the money
is used to contract for spe-
cific medical services at
hospital and other health
care facilities such as the
B.C. Cancer Agency and
lower mainland hospital
emergency wards.

It’s also used to put
physicians on salary in
rural or remote places
where a fee-for-service ar-
rangement wouldn’t bring
in enough income to al-
tract and keep them.

The plan is also used to
pay for temporary postings
to rural and remote places.

In Terrace, the budge-
ted amount under the al-
ternale payments plan for
services already in place
is just over $750,000.

The majority of that
amount is going toward the
two pediatricians here who
are on salary and to pay
for the greater portion of
one psychiatrist’s wage.

Some of it is also being
spent on the time doctors

Continued Page A2

S TANDAI

money

‘i

fiscal year.
It means

CATARACT SURGERY
has flared up as the latest out to approximately 19 a
issue in the battle over month.
- health care here.
By December, based on by local physicians who
the current level of calar- have decided to keep
“act surgery at Mills Mem- doing cataract surgery at
’ orial Hospital, the budget historical levels.
will have been spent with
three months left in the monthly updates as to

$1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST.

($4.10 plus 8¢ GST outside of the - .
“Terrace aren}: . cos
> D- VOL. 13'NO. 19 ss

battlefield

Hospital is running our of

for cataract surgery

That would have worked

The plan was rejected

“I will be sending you

what is left in the ophthal-
people who mology budget and when

‘need surgery will then . we anticipate it will run
* have to go elsewhere or oul,” said Dr. Jim Dun-
. face a lengthy wait list.

field, a local surgeon and

And it likely means the
area’s only ophthalmolo-

race, Will be leaving,

_  There’s never been en-
ough money to meet the
cataract surgery demand

and so the amount provi-
_ ded by the provincial gov-
ernment for the service has
always been subsidized by
Mills. And that’s added to

But this year is worse
_ than most because Mills
has yet to receive its bud-

gist, who is based in Ter- .

the hospital's deficit woes. ©

chair of a local surgeon
and chair of a regional
medical advisory commit-
tee, in a letter to a top
health ministry official.

“Once the ophthalmo-
logy budget runs out, then
the ophthalmology service
will cease to exist in the
pacific ‘ northwest,” said
Dunfield. The Aug. 2 letter
is written on Terrace and
Area Health Council let-
terhead.

“At the present rate of
utilization, we. expect the

granted.

operating al
level,

than ever.

B a Chest of silver

FRED MASON, the foreman of the Kitselas band’s fishwheel operation, pours wriggling sockeye sal-
mon caught by the wheel into a tote. For more on the aboriginal fishery, sea page AS,

didn’t work.
Instead of

get fram the provincial’ ophthalmology budget to
government and has no be used up by Dec. 2000,”
idea if ils requests for ser- he continued,

vice improvements will be

Dunfield said an oph-
thalmologist on temporary '

So what it is doing is duty here likely will leave |

last year’s and the permanent one, Dr.
Tom Nagy, who is away

But with demand conti- for a year, “will not
nuing to rise, the commun- return.”
ity health council, which
operates Mills, faced sub- tor Dieter Kuntz acknow-
sidizing the service more Jedges there was a plan to '

Mills chief administra-

reduce the amount of pro-

A first atlempt in June cedures per operating ses
‘to reduce the number of sion in order to siretch out
cataracts done cach month the budget.

— essentially to ration out
the budget until the fiscal number has been actually
year ends next March — increased from seven to

But now, he says, the

eight for each operating
seven calar- room session because of

acts per ophthalmology demand.

j four.

Power pole crash
turns off the lights

THOUSANDS IN Terrace

“were without power after a
‘stalen car knocked out a
hydro pale just after 6 a.m,
Aug, 11.

The accident occurred
on Kalum St. near Loen
Ave. when a stolen 1987
Buick station wagon head-
ing south slammed head-
on into the hydro pole,

The vehicle smashed
through the lower half of
the wooden pole, leaving
the top half suspended ‘in
mid-air, hanging by power
and phone lines.

According to Terrace
RCMP, the accident was
caused by the station
wagon alone, which was
being driven erratically
down Kalum St,

Police say local resi-
dents reported a man limp-
ing away from the scene,
Officers then picked tp a
suspect nearby.

An ambulance took him
to hospital. .

“The vehicle had major
front-end damage,” said
Terrace RCMP Staff-Spt.
Tom Forster.

The power outage af-
fected nearly 2,000 people.

According to. B.C.
Hydro, the last homes and
businesses were connected
again about seven hours
after the accident.

Police and hydro work-
ers quickly. closed the

Street and began replacing ° &
the damaged pole and-.

wires. Telus crews were
also on the scene to safe-
guard phone lines.

The incident also
spurred an assault on a po-
lice officer. Terrace
RCMP say a driver impa-
tient with traffic delays gat
out of his vehicle and as-
saulted the officer who
was searching Kalum St.
for evidence related to the
accident,

"The. matt was taken into

: custody but later released.

A STOLEN station wagon crashed head-on inta a
power pole on Kalum St. early Friday, leaving ihese
remains of the pole behind.

IT’S A PROSPEROUS time in the
Nass valley as treaty cash payments
to elders have arrived and individual
Nisga’a people are benefitting from
the first-ever treaty fishery.

All elders over 60 years of age have
reccived one-time $15,000 payments,
said Nisga’a Nation president Joe Gos-
nell,

About 300 people were immediately

cligible, putting the total paid out at
around $4.5 million,

I's one of the first tangible benefits of
the treaty, he said, and has allowed el-
ders to make major purchases that had

a. been out of their reach.

Some have been able to buy cars or
trucks for the first time in their lives.

The Nisga’a decided in a vote at a
past tribal council. convention to. make
the payments to elders, with the money
coming out of the treaty settlement cash.

The payouts continue as each new
elder turns 60,

Also. pouring money into- individual:
Nisga’a hands was the first treaty-sanc-

operating session, the hos- At the same time,
pital proposed cutting it to

Money flowing in
Nisga’a territory

‘for school, he said.

Continued Page A2

tioned commercial fishery for the Nisga’a .
from July 1-21,

It was organized to allow individuals
to go out and fish and profit directly from
their efforts.

Nisga’a fish and wildlife director Harry
Nyce said more than 200 participated.

The Nisga’a government set aside
40,000 sockeye of its total 70,000 alloca-
tion for the individual fishery, while the
test was to be harvested by fish wheel
with the profits supporting the new gov-
ernment’s fisheries programs.

The whole fishery generated about $1
million, with around $500,000 in pay-
ments made to individuals, Nyce said.

"It was a very exciting time for the
people to participate in a long-a mis
benefit from the treaty,” Nyce saidand
all the proceeds from their efforts went to
ihemselves.”

Some people are using the money to
buy new vehicles or clothes for their kids

Seeing their own people's fish being
caught, managed by themselves, and
Continued Page A2