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Page 11: ‘Aldergrove Fair fun begins with Parade
ST TAR | Thursday, July 17, 2014
Ambush Girls Bring Home Soccer Gold! PAGE 19
Fraser Health targets ER ‘over-use’
‘Dirty Dash’ Fun in the Mud
By JEFF NAGEL Aldergrove Star
HARRY HUNT PHOTO
Aldergrove’s Devan Cosens (at left) and Keesha Owen were among the 2,700 competitors who overcame 15 obstacles in the fivekilometre long “Dirty Dash” at Thunderbird Show Park on Saturday, July 12. The event was a fundraiser for the Pacific Riding for Developing Abilities charity, which provides equestrian therapy programs at their Langley farm.
‘Expect to get caught’ by Counter Attack By MONIQUE TAMMINGA Aldergrove Star
Motorists can expect Counter Attack checkstops all over Langley this summer including this Friday night, warn Langley RCMP traffic services. “If you’re going to drink and drive in Langley, expect to get caught and dealt with according to the law,” said Langley RCMP Sgt. Gerard Sokolowski.
Impaired driving continues to be one of the RCMP’s national priorities. For the month of July, a particular emphasis will be placed on locating Langley’s impaired drivers, said Sokolowski. To that end, on Friday night the Langley RCMP will be out and visible, actively looking for people driving under the influence. Enforcement efforts will focus on several key areas. Also pres-
ent at one of the check spots will be members of Families for Justice, many of whom are people who have lost a loved one to a drunk driver. “If your summer activities involve alcohol, plan ahead for a safe ride home,” said Hilary Matheson, local ICBC road safety co-ordinator. “Arrange a designated driver, call a taxi or take transit. Share the responsibility of being the designated driver this summer to help
your friends and family get home safely.” On average, 96 people die every year in crashes involving impaired driving. Shockingly, impairment remains a leading cause of car crash fatalities in B.C. despite new, stricter laws and consequences. However, the new legislation that sees drivers lose their license and have their vehicle impounded has reduced the number of impaired drivers significantly.
A seven-month review of Fraser Health has resulted in a new strategy that focuses on cutting unnecessary use of hospital emergency rooms in favour of improved primary and community care. Health Minister Terry Lake said Wednesday too many patients in the region aren’t getting the appropriate type of care and suffering worse outcomes, compared to other peer hospitals in Canada. “When you provide that care in the community, you take the pressure off the acute care setting,” Lake said. “That helps look after your budget problem as well.” Average lengths of hospital stays are longer in Fraser, Lake said, increasing risks of picking up infections in hospital or problems like bed sores. The concept is far from new. Fraser has been trying for years to clear its congested ERs with a shift to preventative or home health care. Although Lake did not criticize past efforts, he said the time was right for a strategic “data-driven” re-examination of the issues for the region, whose staff had been too bogged down in “putting out fires.” Some of the overuse of hospital ERs instead of community clinics may be related to cultural differences among the region’s large South Asian population, Lake said. The region will get a modest infusion of extra money – $40 million in 2014/15 and $20 million in 2015/16 – to assist with opening up community care beds during the transition. Lake said the findings confirmed Fraser’s budget of $3.1 billion has been appropriate in recent years, in light of its population of 1.7 million, rapid growth rate and demographics. “It’s not a matter of dollars,” he said. Funding for Fraser is slated to climb 4.3 per cent in 2014, 1.4 per cent in 2015 and 1.2 per cent to more than $3.3 billion in 2016. The review was ordered by Lake last November, largely in response to the health authority’s inability to avoid successive budget overruns. The resulting strategic and operational plan sets out 10 priority actions for improvement. Among them is a recommendation that trauma, cardiac and stroke programs be more efficiently coordinated across the Lower Mainland’s two health authorities. Lake ruled out a full merger of the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities, but said the ministry will continue to examine whether it’s logical to carve off the Burnaby local health area and add it to Vancouver Coastal because of the significant number of Burnaby patients who go into Vancouver for treatment. SEE: Page 3
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