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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 U E S D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 2
‘Explosive device’ found during Chilliwack drug search An “explosive device” surprised RCMP officers conducting a search of a suspected drug house on Nowell Street last week. Drug investigators suspect the device, which was not described in an RCMP news release, was likely stolen from a business involved in explosive work, and eventually made its way to the street. “Fortunately, our members were able to identify the device and ensure it was removed safely from the apartment without any further risk to the members of the occupants,” Sgt. Steven McLeod, supervisor of the Chilliwack detachment’s crime reduction unit, said in the release. He was not immediately available for comment Monday. Police said two males and a female were arrested as a result of the search and released on a promise to appear later in court. A large quantity of illegal drugs and cash believed to be related to drug trafficking were also seized, plus a firearm and a number of dangerous or prohibited weapons. Continued: DRUGS/ p14
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Vancouver dance instructor Kelly Konno (centre) teaches a group of students a hip-hop street style dance routine during a special visit to Images Dance Studio on Wednesday evening. Konno has worked professionally in the entertainment business for 20 years and has worked with superstars such as Janet and Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake and Prince. Her most recent choreography credit is reality TV show Canada Sings 2. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Rehab closure ‘not carefully thought out’ Robert Freeman The Progress
Crack cocaine confiscated by Chilliwack RCMP in a search that also turned up an ‘explosive device.’ RCMP PHOTO
The head of Chilliwack hospital doctors took the unusual step of going public last week in reaction to the closure of the hospital’s rehab unit by the Fraser Health Authority. “I would not normally talk to the press,” Dr. Ken Hirst told The Progress, “but this issue of how to manage our rehab floor is quite a significant issue and has quite a significant impact on patient care at the hospital.”
“We believe (the closure) has not really been carefully thought out,” he said, in terms of the impact on patient care and on other hospital departments that send patients recovering from the likes of strokes or major surgery to the rehab unit. “The ward as it currently stands is filled with patients that come from our own hospital setting ... it is completely utilized by the needs of our community,” he said. “It is not an under-utilized resource.” And rehab patients who are often elderly and may not recover
at home due to the lack of family or community support networks and need to return to the hospital will “lessen the availability of surgical and medical beds,” he said. “It makes the hospital even more inefficient in its ability to deliver what it should be doing, which is acute care,” he said. FHA officials say the decision to convert the unit to an outpatient clinic and send the more intensive rehab cases to Abbotsford is an “addition” to rehab options in Chilliwack, rather than a cut, and will result in better health out-
comes. A task force will also ensure that patients’ needs in terms of transportation and home support are met, and that consultations will take place with hospital doctors and community health agencies over the next couple of months. But Hirst, who is paid by the FHA to head up the hospital’s department of general practices, said any discussions with hospital doctors at this point will be about how to “manage the crisis” caused by the closure. Continued: DOCTORS/ p13
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