West Coast Olefins boss replies to Marie Hay letter, page 8 Stumbles happen on the path to purpose, Dave Fuller writes, page 10
Prince George Thursday June 4, 2020
Holmes leaving Two Rivers Page 6
Your community newspaper since 1916
PGcitizen.ca
princegeorgecitizen
Dentist knows the drill to reopen Ted clarke Citizen staff
After more than two months of keeping his drills, scalers and probes parked in their chairside racks with his other dental instruments, Terah Albertson has the tools of his trade back in his hands.
On Wednesday, Albertson and his staff at Timber Ridge Dental in Tabor Plaza resumed helping patients relieve their toothaches and polish their smiles for the first time since March 16, when the province, in response to the pandemic, put the clamp on non-essential medical services. He’s used his time away from his profession to tackle some home renovations at the Mud River home he shares with his wife and five children and that’s kept his mind occupied, knowing he hasn’t been able to do what he’s trained for since he began practicing dentistry in 2012. As one of the dentists who make themselves available on-call one day or weekend per month for Prince George dental emergency services, Albertson knows some patients have suffered as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions that kept dental offices closed. “I feel bad for patients who have dental emergencies and are not receiving ideal treatment,” said Albertson. “For someone with an infection, usually you’d want to prescribe them an antibiotic, control the infection and then remove the source of infection. In some situations they’re being treated with prescriptions, where some type of definitive treatment in the dental chair would be more ideal. Those patients have been asked to stay away from the office if possible, which isn’t ideal. When you’re trying to exercise social distancing and limit contact between people, that’s what was recommended.”
Handout photo
After being shut down for two months due to the pandemic, Prince George dentist Terah Albertson has resumed treating patients in his Timber Ridge Dental office.
The College of Dental Surgeons of BC has urged that all elective and non-essential dental services be suspended until the threat of the virus spreading diminishes but dentists can resume treating patients with urgent needs. Cleanings and other less urgent procedures are also allowed under the new provincial order, left up to the discretion of each dentist. “If someone had (gum disease) symptoms, because of gingivitis or periodontitis, that might be a situation where we’d
consider doing a cleaning,” Albertson said. “But if it’s a healthy 20-year-old just having no symptoms, we’d say let’s wait until things are more safe.” Like many dentists, Albertson decided to delay opening his office again by a couple weeks to allow him to gather personal protective equipment and prepare his staff for the new requirements. Plexiglas screens have been installed in the reception area and some of the chairs where patients sit in the waiting area have
been removed, as have toys and books for kids, which could transmit the virus. Basic masks and surgical gloves are to be used on all patients. Unless a patient is deemed high-risk to be infected with COVID-19, Albertson won’t have to dip into his precious supply of N95 medical-grade masks, gowns or face shields. “That’s been one of the challenges and one of the reasons we’re not open yet, to track down some PPE,” said Albertson. “There are some items – N95 masks and surgical gowns - I ordered two months ago and I had to find a different source because the first source hasn’t delivered it yet.” Whenever possible, physical distancing measures must be followed. Staff are instructed to disinfect doors, pens, surfaces and washrooms after contact with each patient. The province also recommends that dentists have the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) air filtration system of their office evaluated as an added precaution. “A lot of offices are having patients wait in the car and they are called once the previous patient has left, so there’s no overlap of patients in the office,” Albertson said. “They haven’t given a lot of specifics, more guidelines because each office will have a unique situation as far as the layout and the space they have available.” Before they arrive in the office for an appointment, patients are pre-screened over the phone and are asked a series of questions from a list compiled by the BC Dental Association to determine if they have any COVID-19 symptoms. “The big push from our overseeing body is in the triaging and making sure we’re not having patients with a risk of having COVID-19 coming to the office,” said Albertson. “They’ve left that up to the practitioners’ professional judgement.”
police Watchdog seeks charges Read the latest updates at
pgcitizen.ca
$2.00 0
58307
00200
5
Citizen staff
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is calling for charges to be laid against five RCMP officers in relation to the death of a Prince George man in 2017.
On July 18, 2017, at around 10:30 p.m. Prince George RCMP officers were called to investigate a report of a man casing parked vehicles in the 1,000-block of Central Street West. Then the officers attempted to question the man, he allegedly fled on a bicycle, a statement issued by the IIO said. “While attempting to take the man into custody, a struggle ensued between him and the officer and additional officers then arrived. OC (pepper) spray was
used. The male appeared to be having trouble breathing and police requested medical assistance,” the IIO statement said. “Officers reported that the male was removed from the police vehicle when Emergency Health Services (EHS) arrived, and collapsed. The male was pronounced deceased shortly thereafter.” IIO chief civilian director Ronald J. MacDonald determined “reasonable grounds exist to believe that two officers may have committed offences in relation to use of force, and three others may have committed offences regarding obstruction of justice.” The IIO forwarded it’s report to the B.C. Prosecution Service for consideration of potential charges. The IIO is not releasing any additional
information about the case while it is before the Crown. In a second, unrelated case, the IIO cleared Prince George RCMP officers of any wrongdoing in an incident that happened on May 19. At approximately 3:30 p.m. police were called to a report of a man chasing another man with a weapon downtown, near the intersections of Third Avenue and Dominion Street. After being taken into custody, the man was found have injuries and was transported to the University Hospital of Northern B.C for treatment by paramedics. After reviewing the evidence, MacDonald ruled that the man’s injuries were suffered from a previous incident and were not caused by police actions.