TUESDAY JULY 21, 2015
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GARBAGE MOUNTAIN
BEACHFEST ROCKS WEEKEND NIGHTS
Problems persist despite years of clean-up efforts
There’s more to this festival than world-class sand sculptures
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A24
THREE CALLS IN ONE DAY
Seachers kept busy Boy falls off bank; car goes into lake; woman missing AUREN RUVINSKY writer@pqbnews.com
It was another busy but successful weekend for Arrowsmith Search and Rescue in what is already a record year. “Our first call on Saturday was at about 3:30 p.m. to assist B.C. Ambulance with a young boy down an embankment off Kaye Road,” said ASR search manager Gordon Yelland. B.C Ambulance and the Nanoose Bay Fire Department called in ASR thinking that the boy would have to be rescued by rope from above, but with ASR on scene, there were enough people on hand that they were able to lower him to a bit of a trail at the bottom and he was safe within less than an hour, Yelland said. A couple of hours later, just before 6 p.m., they were called to assist the Coombs Fire Department and other emergency services when a vehicle ended up under several feet of water in Cameron Lake. The female driver, the lone occupant of the vehicle, got out on her own but ASR divers searched the area to confirm she was alone and then helped tow the vehicle out. Then around 10:45 p.m. the same evening, ASR was called to help find a missing female in the Englishman River Estuary that RCMP said had disclosed to someone that she wanted to hurt herself. “We enlisted the RCMP dog handler, then when they did a sweep of the area and didn’t find her we called in search and rescue and the RCMP helicopter was up for awhile,” said Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Jesse Foreman. They searched through the night, peaking at 15 ASR members and then at 5 a.m. called in mutual aid, with 19 members responding from search and rescue in Comox, Port Alberni, Cowichan and Saltspring Island, Yelland said. See BACK-TO-BACK, page A4
CARLI BERRY PHOTO
FREE DENTAL DAY: Bayview Dental and Implant Center hosted a free dental day on July 18. The Dentistry from the Heart event provided adults with a free extraction, cleaning or filling of their choice. From left to right are Dr. Vic Kooner, Dr. Chris Gill, assistant Darlene MacDonald and patient Teresa Barker as she prepares for an extraction.
OCEANSIDE HEALTH CENTRE
Urgent care reduces open hours JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
The Urgent Care Centre at the Oceanside Health Centre in Parksville will be open one hour less each day, starting August 1. Urgent Care will see patients from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., seven days a week. Since it opened in September of 2013, the centre has been open from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. “Our data shows that the majority of people seek treatment in urgent care between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., which we
know is contributing to longer triageto-discharge times for those patients who present with less urgent health issues,” Dr. Ben Williams, the medical lead of Oceanside Health Services, said through an Island Health news release. “We also know that long waits have resulted in some patients leaving urgent care without being seen by the clinical care team.” This announcement comes on the heels of news that the OHC is losing its only primary care physician to re-
tirement. “Both are a reflection of a shortage of family physicians nationwide,” Williams told The NEWS in an interview. Williams said the new hours in urgent care will make the shifts more “manageable” for doctors, most of which have busy practices of their own. “They come here out of generosity, off the sides of their plates,” he said. According to Williams, urgent care averaged 50-55 patients a day when it first opened. See VOLUME INCREASE, page A5
Ladies Night at Parksville Pharmasave Friday, July 24 - 6-8pm OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
WEEKDAYS UNTIL 9PM • WEEKENDS UNTIL 6PM Locally Owned, Proudly Canadian!
281 E. ISLAND HWY. PARKSVILLE, BC 250-951-0243
Join our Natural Health Consultant, Lisa Leger with special guest Doreen Bakstad for one of her popular women’s health events to celebrate International Self Care Day.
What does self care mean to you? • Losing weight and eating healthy? • Caring for your skin? • Learning to relax? • Being well informed about your health? FREE OF CHARGE IN OUR SEMINAR ROOM. 250-951-0243
LEARN. DISCUSS. TASTE. TRY. LAUGH.