PRINCE GEORGE
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FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2001
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for PGRH day care: critics
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
Since day care at Prince George Regional Hospital is earmarked as a high priority to recruit and retain staff, some people are asking why it is taking a year to put in place.
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“I don’t understand what should take a year,” Dr. Bert Kelly, vice-president of the Northern Medical Society, said Thursday, a day after the Northern Interior Regional Health Board approved the program to start in about a year.
“I don’t understand why an insti-tution as big as PGRH couldn’t simply copy a model like the one at UNBC, which is successful, and get
KELLY
on with it,” said Kelly. “The nurses at PGRH have identified a day-care program as something of a priority."
Health board CEO Dave Richardson said it will take a year to raise capital costs to develop the site.
“There is $200,000 available to get program planning started from the Three-R (regional, recruitment and retention) committee,” said Richardson.
Three-R committee funds, through the NIRHB, come from the annual $1 million approved by the B.C. government last year to recruit and retain nurses and other health professionals in the region.
“A co-ordinator will work with others to fund-raise for capital funding. The delay is in acquiring funds to put up a new building,” said Richardson.
It is estimated the building and furnishing costs will be $500,000. Annual operating costs, estimated at $500,000, are already committed. The Three-R committee has annually committed $200,000 to 300,000, and the NIRHB has approved $300,000.
It will be a subsidized service, but users will pay fees, said Megan Klammer, a member of the Three-R Day Care Task Force.
The plan is to operate the 40-space day care, expected to accommodate 80 children including infants, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week with licensed Early ChildhSod Education staff.
Klammer said there’s a lot of work to be done to set up the program.
“We have to find a suitable site on hospital or (Northern Interior) Health Unit grounds for an expandable building,” she said.
Other steps include hiring a manager by the end of September, establishing a Child Care Advisory group, developing a business plan, site preparation including zoning and licensing and^rais-ing funds to build it. v
Klammer said PGRH staff are delighted the day care has been approved. “We’ve been working on this idea for 10 years.”
Klammer said the day care will be a great marketing asset to attract and retain staff, improve morale among workers and reduce absenteeism and stress.
Mayor lands national health post
Kinsley to voice rural concerns on advisory committee
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff
Mayor Colin Kinsley has been appointed to a national advisory committee on rural health, federal Health Min-ister Allan Rock said Thursday.
“This national committee will advise the minister on rural health matters,” said federal official David Hurford.
He said Kinsley KINSLEY has been selected
“in recognition of the good work he’s done in the community during the past few years,” such as advocating for the University of Northern B.C.’s health research centre and hosting events like a national health summit here last January.
“Minister Rock’s idea is to go beyond the academic field and reach out to the grassroots people,” Hurford said.
Kinsley said he’s happy with the appointment. “I’m pleased that minister Rock recognizes that Prince George plays a role in this,” said Kinsley.
“Because it’s national in scope, I hope to bring forward the message that regional hospitals like Prince George Regional Hospital, Sudbury
Regional Hospital and others which serve huge areas, but stand alone, need to be given special status. They need to have the kind of services that serve the greater majority of healthcare needs, not including the very specialized fields,” Kinsley said.
“The federal and provincial governments have to work in co-operation with local health authorities to provide the best possible services to the entire Cana-
dian public,” said Kinsley, adding, it’s time for the governments to put differences aside and start working together.
Joining Kinsley on the committee from B.C. are Dr. Peter Newbery of Hazelton and Arleene Thorpe of the Dawson Creek Society for Community Living.
There are 22 members on the committee from across Canada.
During a visit today to Baddeck, N.S., Rock is announcing a series of
rural health measures, including:
■ Approval of $1.67 million for national rural health partnerships and initiatives.
■ A one-year review of Canada’s Rural Health Strategy that highlights regional measures, national initiatives, activities of the Rural health Office, and a directory of Health Canada programs and services available to rural communities.
A year is too long to wait
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Athletes are greeted by enthusiastic fans as they enter the Multiplex for the opening ceremonies of the 2001 B.C. Special Olympics Summer Games Thursday evening. More than 1,100 athletes will compete in seven events. The events £o today and Saturday at the Stb Avenue Bowladrome, Strike1 Zonerthe Aquatic Centre, Massey Place Stadium, CNC and the Rotary Soccer Fields. — See stories on page 8
Special athletes welcomed
If plane fare was free Canucks may come to Multiplex: GM
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by JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
Brian Burke must have anticipated the question.
The general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, in Prince George on Thursday as the honorary GM of the 2001 B.C. Special Olympics Summer Games, knew he’d be asked when the Canucks are coming to the Central Interior.
After all, the team has held its training camp over the years in Kamloops, Whistler, Duncan and Victoria.
“I’ve been here about three hours, and I’ve been asked that question 16 times,” said Burke.
“The answer is, when we move training camp around, our artificial unwritten rule is that we have to be within three-and-a-half hours of Vancouver.
That’s not the case here, but we obviously know (the Multiplex) is a beautiful facility and there’s great support here for the junior team.”
Wait a second, Brian. A flighfis only an hour — so would it help if somehow the team could be flown to Prince George?
“That would help, because training camp is expensive,” he said.
The Summer Games continue through Saturday, with athletes leaving town on Sunday. Burke flies back to Vancouver this afternoon for a team function.
“I was asked by B.C. Special Olympics to be here, and I was very flattered to get the invitation. I’m having a gas. I was just on the floor talking to the athletes, and with this beautiful weather this will be a weekend Prince George won’t forget.” The athletes deserve our applause,
said Burke, but someone else’s work can’t go unnoticed — former NHL pugilist Tiger Williams, a tireless supporter of Special Olympics since his days playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks.
Williams is the honorary head coach.
“Tiger deserves some recognition for what he’s done — he’s been doing this for 20-plus years now,” said Burke, as Williams greeted the athletes, many of them by first name, prior to Thursday’s opening ceremonies.
“You watch these kids coming in. A lot of them recognize him, come over and say ‘Hi’ and give him a hug. He should get a lot more credit for being here than I should. I’m going to consider doing * more with Special Olympics because these athletes are so great to be around.”
Log haulers await Bill 13 review
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
The Central Interior Logging Association is waiting to see what will come out of a forest ministry review of the rules that govern contracts between forest companies and the loggers and haulers who work for them.
The review was started under the NDP in April, but the new Liberal government has said it wants to cut the red tape and regulatory burden by one-third within three years. Kevin Falcon was appointed minister of state for deregulation, and Premier Gordon Campbell has also established the cabinet core review and deregulation task force committee.
While the contract review is behind schedule, the plan is still to present it to Forest Ministers Mike de Jong this summer, said ministry official Jim Gowriluk, who’s co-ordinating the review.
“The new government has a lot of other priorities on the table and this is just not one of them at this point,” said Gowriluk, who is also involved in working on the lumber trade dispute with the U.S.
Once the review is delivered to the forests minister, there’s no telling what will happen, said Gowriluk.
Loggers and haulers want changes to the Timber Harvesting Contract and Subcontract Regulation to make set-
tling disputes with major forest companies less costly and more timely.
The timber-harvesting contract regulation — more commonly known as ^ Bill 13 — was first introduced in 1991, then amended in 1996.
It’s particularly important to find a simpler, more efficient, less costly process because as forest^ompanies have consolidated, contractors often have only one company they can work for in a given area, said Roy Nagel, general manager of the Central Interior Logging Association. “Our view is that some regulation is still needed. They need to be streamlined, they need to be made more workable,” Nagel said.
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