Back to school: Books, bucks & building muscle Schools are back in session in the Tri-Cities — one needs books, another is offering a unique fitness course and all have parents waiting for their $40-a-day strike pay from the province . See stories, page 3
THE FRIDAY
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
SEPT. 26, 2014
TRI-CITY NEWS CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
Cue up Culture Days
Dodgeball? Yes, dodgeball
SEE THINGS-TO-DO GUIDE, PAGE 18
SEE SPORTS, PAGE 46
Like eating fish in a barrel
www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE
Letters/11 Tri-City Spotlight/19 Books Plus/21 Elaine Golds/22
ERH stacks up to hospitals across Canada: study Infection control an ongoing issue By Sarah Payne THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Port Moody’s Eagle Ridge Hospital has scored well, according to a new online tool that compares health care facilities across the country. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) website, which went live Sept. 18, allows individuals, hospitals, health regions and provinces to compare how they measure up on 37 indicators related to ac-
MORE TRI-CITY HEALTH INFO
A community health profile shows the Tri-Cities, with a well-educated and affluent population, is ahead of the curve on many indicators. See article on page 6. cess, quality of care and patient safety. And compared to other medium-sized hospitals across the country, ERH is “doing fairly well... with no statistical difference for in-hospital sepsis, readmission rates or hospital deaths following major surgery,” said Kira Leeb, director of health system performance for CIHI. Eagle Ridge, which is
celebrating its 30th anniversary, is also running more efficiently than similar-sized hospitals. “Part of that is driven by the size of the hospital,” Leeb said. “But from all I see... Eagle Ridge Hospital is performing quite well within its peer group and within the Fraser Health Authority.” see INFO PUTS, page 6
Referendum details will have to wait for elections Voting on taxes for transit could be online, by mail By Jeff Nagel BLACK PRESS
Port Moody photographer Tracy w came across this clever heron on a recent morning as it went fishing at the Noon’s Creek Hatchery. Rather than hunt for food in open water, the bird used the netting over a pond to grab a bite.
A final decision is unlikely until after the November municipal elections on what proposed new taxes would be put to a spring ref-
erendum to finance a major transit expansion for Metro Vancouver. Metro mayors met again Monday and are still in discussions with Transportation Minister Todd Stone as to how much money can be raised and what sources are acceptable. Mayors’ council chair Richard Walton previously said the referendum question and parameters
needed to be settled by September but now hopes they will be mostly determined by an Oct. 17 meeting and finalized Dec. 11. The delay may spare Metro mayors the need to defend the specifics of proposed new taxes for TransLink in mid-campaign, but Walton denied the election timing is a motive for delay. see ‘THE SOONER’, page 15