Soccer stars Vancouver Whitecaps host annual camp for aboriginal youth in Nanaimo. PAGE 26
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015
VOL. 27, NO. 25
Health clinic opens doors at university I
SURVEY SHOWED 81 per cent of students, faculty and staff had gone to emergency room for care. BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Life’s a breeze
A windsurfer tacks into a stiff breeze off the shores of Pipers Lagoon Park Friday. Sunny skies and cooler temperatures near the shoreline drew residents out to Nanaimo’s marine parks over the B.C. Day long weekend.
Port authority passenger fees set to increase in autumn BY KARL YU THE NEWS BULLETIN
The Nanaimo Port Authority says it will increase passenger fees in order to provide better security for the harbour. Effective Oct. 1, the fee will rise to 25 cents per passenger, from 15 cents. Senior citizens, disabled
people and students will still be charged 15 cents. The authority said it has been tasked with more responsibilities over the last 10 years, including marine security. The fees will apply to people taking ferries to and from Departure Bay and Duke Point, as well as people taking floatplanes from
the harbour. Ferry riders to Protection, Newcastle and Gabriola islands will not be affected. Part of the money will go toward two patrol boats and staffing to allow for around-the-clock response on the city’s waterfront. The authority will work with Nanaimo Fire Rescue to include firefighting ret-
rofits. The port authority said $1.1 million has been invested in the boats. David Mailloux, port authority spokesman, said Nanaimo’s harbour is dynamic, with a lot going on, and the vessels will allow for a “maximum blanket of safety and security.” It’s a 24/7 job, he said. See ‘FEES’ /9
Nanaimo’s university students no longer have to leave campus to get medical care. A health and wellness centre has opened at Vancouver Island University, allowing students to get lab tests, birth control and biopsies on campus. The clinic had a soft opening in May when most students had already left for the summer, but will hold an official opening this September, according to Carrie Chassels, the university’s director of student affairs, who believes advocacy for a medical clinic at the university has been ongoing for at least 20 years. By 2013, the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice was involved, reporting to the News Bulletin that the idea was to hire a nurse practitioner to lead a campus clinic and help address an under-served student population, although the university itself was mum on the details. When Chassels arrived last August, she said she was tasked with the responsibility of the university’s health care vision. According to Chassels and Dr. Melissa Oberholster, co-chairwoman and physician lead for the division’s A GP for Me initiative, the aim is to decrease emergency room uses. The GP for Me survey, which had 500 students, faculty and staff at the university respond, showed 81 per cent had gone to the emergency room within the last 12 months. See ‘ON-CAMPUS’ /9
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