Al4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 29, 2000

Locals warned regional

health

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TWO PEOPLE hired to
develop a regional health
predict it will be a tough
chore.

Sharon Downs of West-
ern Health Planning As-
sociates, from Alberta,
told 100 people here last
week thal failure to reach
a regional consensus on
health care means one will
be imposed by the provin-
cial government.

“A united document
needs to go to the
ministry,” Downs said. “I
expect we'll have a fair
amount of debate, It’s
going to be difficult. We're
going to have some tough
sledding ahead of us.”

Downs and Dorothy
Schiller said the plan
won't involve adding new
services to the area. Ra-
ther, it will focus on
spending health care dol-
lars in the northwest more
appropriately.

“The message we were
given was there wasn’l
new money to add new
services, Bul that doesn’t
mean we can’t shift things
between communities,”
said Downs.

Downs said a number
of health issues were on
the table - everything from
the recruitment of nurses
and doctors ta examining
how each program and ser-
vice in each northwest
community was being uli-
lized.

Downs said: “There has
to be a way to look at ser-
vices together because
when you have a mis-
hmash of services, some-
body falls through the
cracks.”

“[Health councils] have
to start working together.
It's as simple as that,” she
added.

Downs assured locals
she and her associates
weren’t in the business of
coming in and taking away
health services.

But to create efficient
programs, that may mean
some people may have to
drive to where they're lo-
cated, she said.

Downs said a number of
issues being discussed in-
clude increasing CT scan-
ner usage in Terrace, look-
ing at patient referral pat-
terns, determining what
populations are needed to
support services, and how
to get money to follow pa-
tients,

working on a plan to cre-
ate a regional health
board, but that the heads
of local health councils
were looking at various
options concerning the
issue.

The consultants are also
looking at amalgamating
some of the administrative
positions in the area.

“You don’t need a payr-
oll department in every
CHC (community health
council),” Downs said.

Local health care advo-
cate Ida Mohler told the
consultants they should be
concentrating on how to
cure the chronic nurse
shortage at Mills Memor-
ial Hospital.

“Hiring nurses should
be our top priority. Let's
stop talking about new
programs and open beds so
we can help sick people,”
Mohler said.

Downs asked Mohler
and other locals to give
the hospital's newly-hired
chief administrator Dieter

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Downs said she was not

plan won't be easy

CONSULTANTS Sharon Downs (right) and Dorothy Schiller, hired to create a
regional health care plan, met with local residents March 25 to hear what is-
sues concerned them. The consultants said they were focussing on how to
provide better programs and services and improving access to those services:

Ww

Kuntz some time to assess
Mills Memorial’s pro-
blems.

“Give the guy a break,”
she said. “He needs some
time to really look at
things from his perspec-
tive.”

The consultant’s report
must be approved by a
steering committee, made
up of the area’s head hos-
pital administrators, doc-
tors, nurses, a health mini-
stry official and health
council members.

The report must be sub-
mitted to the ministry by
June 15.

The consultants are: -
meeting with groups and’.
people all over the north-—

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