The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
3
19
News
29
Scene
Sports
Lesson
Cultus
Basketball
Students hear what happens when luck runs out.
Celebrating 80 years of Cultus Lake
GW Graham hoops duo commits to Briercrest.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T H U R S D AY, M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 2
Family Day hurts economy, MLAs say
■ S PRING I N T HE A IR ?
Local Chamber reaction, page 3 Tom Fletcher Black Press Premier Christy Clark is pushing ahead with plans for a new Family Day holiday in February, after independent MLAs voted against the move. NDP MLAs supported B.C. Liberal members in the key vote to approve the new statutory holiday Tuesday. The first one will be next Feb. 11, and the second Monday in February each year after that. Independent MLAs criticized the move and forced a standing vote, after listing the costs it would impose on business. Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington reminded the legislature the new holiday is imposed on business after three increases in the minimum wage in the past year, an average $3,000 transition to the harmonized sales tax and soon a similar cost to switch back to the provincial sales tax next year. Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen was the first independent to speak out against Family Day, backed by John Cummins, leader of the B.C. Conservative Party that van Dongen has joined. “Adding a new statutory holiday is a feelgood idea that is strictly politically motivated,” van Dongen said.
Affectionate horses play together in a field on Sumas Prairie Road on a warm spring afternoon on Saturday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Mayor challenges decision on rehab closure Robert Freeman The Progress Chilliwack doctors were not consulted by Fraser Health Authority officials before the decision was made to close the rehabilitation unit at Chilliwack General Hospital. And Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz said she was unable to persuade FHA officials Monday to hold off closing the unit until community consultations could take place. The closure may also put additional strain on the FHA’s relationship with the Fraser Valley Regional Hospital District board, which is already sitting on a $1.2 million
request by the health authority for hospital equipment funding. Chilliwack MLA John Les is also unhappy about the FHA’s decision. “It seems odd to me that a new (rehab) program announced a few years ago is now deemed not to be the right model,” he said. “If there’s something better, it had better be better for the patient because that’s the ruler I’m using.” “I will be discussing this further with the FHA CEO (Dr. Nigel Murray) in the next couple of weeks,” he said. Valerie Spurrell, the FHA’s executive director of rehabilitation programs, agreed the decision to close
$1.25 1-12T CS17
the hospital’s rehab unit in favour of outpatient services would cut costs, “but we wouldn’t do it if it didn’t give patients the right services.” She described the outpatient service as an “addition” to rehab options, rather than a cut, which will result in better health outcomes. The 20-bed unit at the Chilliwack hospital was billed as a “seamless” transition from hospital to home when it opened in 2006. Hospital medical staff were not available for comment Wednesday, but Dr. Ralph Jones said Chilliwack doctors were not asked for any input into the FHA decision, which has “lots of implications for other
(hospital) departments like surger y, geriatrics, medicine and emergency.” He said many of the patients are the frail elderly, who often have only elderly spouses looking after them at home, and no easy way to access the outpatient service. “I cannot see my patients ... being able to come in to the (outpatient) clinic on a daily basis,” he said. In England, he added, there is a well-organized system for transporting elderly outpatients from home to hospital services — but that’s not the case in Chilliwack. Continued: REHAB/ p12