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FEBRUARY 17, 2016
City signs agreement with Kinder Morgan to get new golf course clubhouse if expansion project receives federal approval A5
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Hospitals to lose beds Fraser Health shifting aging patients into community care Tyler OLSEN and Jeff NAGEL Abbotsford News
Fraser Health will close hospital beds at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and other facilities, including Mission, this spring even as it continues to struggle to overcome long-standing concerns about emergency room congestion and the length of patients’ stays. And while the bed closures were revealed at the same time as plans to open up hundreds of new residential care beds, none of those new beds will be located east of Surrey, according to the health authority.
Fraser Health is closing a total of 80 in-patient beds at 10 of its 12 hospitals, as it aims to shift aging patients out of hospitals and back into local communities. The strategy has been years in the works and is culminating now as 400 residential complex care beds are set to come on stream in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Surrey and White Rock at a cost of $34.5 million. Fraser Health spokesperson Tasleem Juma said Abbotsford has less demand for residential care beds than those cities. “This will happen over the next six months,”
Juma said. “As those residential care beds come available, we’ll be able to move people into them and slowly the reductions will happen.” Only hospitals in Delta and the Fraser Canyon won’t see the elimination of beds. The reductions represent less than three per cent of Fraser’s 3,000 total hospital acute care beds. Fraser officials hope the shift into the community will ultimately mean better, more appropriate care for those patients, as well as Continued on A3
UFV MAKES PLAYOFF PUSH A20 Cascades men’s and women’s basketball teams on winning streak to close season
HOUSING PRICES SPIKE
MISSION WINS CONFERENCE TITLE
A5 The cost of an average home in Abbotsford rises 3% in January, to top $500,000
Mission Outlaws players celebrate on the ice after defeating the Abbotsford Pilots 5-2 in Mission in Saturday’s Pacific Junior Hockey League regular season finale. The win clinched the Harold Brittain conference regular season title for Mission, putting Abbotsford in second place. It marks the first time in franchise history that the Outlaws have achieved the honour.
PROJECT FOR BRIO SITE A10 Initial approval for smaller housing development at stalled highrise site ■
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