City Hit Hard by Health Care Cuts

Dec. 19, 2009. Special to the Record. Is it my imagination or is New Westminster particularly hard hit with the latest round of Fraser Health Authority cuts?

Why is our city, one of the oldest in the province and justifiably proud of its historic role as a leader in health care, a target?

Let's look at the evidence.

New Westminster will lose its only hospice Dec. 31 when the eight-bed hospice at Queen's Park Care Centre is closed. Yes, terminally ill patients will get the same compassionate care, but it will be far from home. This will be especially hard on the elderly, who will now have to travel by bus or expensive taxi to spend time with a dying spouse.

The closing of the New Westminster hospice is somehow connected to the opening of 10 new hospice beds in Delta, which has me baffled. Yes, Delta needs its first hospice, but is this the new Liberal policy, to provide a needed service at the expense of the needs of others, in this case New Westminster residents? A Fraser Health press release says the hospice resources will be "redeployed," surely political bafflegab of the highest order.

And let's not forget why those Queen's Park hospice beds were created in the first place - the closure of St. Mary's Hospital and its hospice. The government promised to replace those beds, but apparently a promise is only a stopgap on the way to closing beds entirely. There is no need to remind Royal City residents that St. Mary's was not only closed but demolished, and an empty lot is all that's left of what was once a vibrant health-care centre.

Meanwhile, 25 convalescent beds at Queen's Park will also close. With the serious shortage of residential beds, and people waiting in transitional and emergency rooms for residential beds, why aren't the convalescent beds turned into residential? More residential beds means fewer people taking up more expensive beds in emergency rooms because there is no where else for them to go. Surely that is only common sense.

Fourteen highly skilled nurses will lose their jobs in these two cuts, along with other dedicated and skilled staff. Some have been there since Queen's Park opened. Hopefully they will find other jobs, but is it really in the best interest of New Westminster residents that they take their skills elsewhere?

Speaking of taking skills elsewhere, Fraser Health is cutting the social work budget for its hospitals, which will mean 14 positions will be lost. Who will pick up the slack? Certainly not hospital chaplains, who have also been eliminated.

The lack of respect for valued skills continues, with the Fraser Health Authority cutting the public health dietician budget by more than 50 per cent.

While I understand the health authority is experiencing huge deficits, which seemed to come as a surprise only after the provincial election, targeting the very programs that keep people healthy and out of hospital seems short-sighted. Hospital stays consume a huge portion of the budget.

Wouldn't it make more sense to retain the very programs that keep people out of hospital in the first place?

And who knows what is ahead for New Westminster residents looking for support through the crisis line that has served New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Burnaby for several years. Administered by SHARE Family and Community Services located in the Tri-Cities, the local crisis line has been told it will be amalgamated with Surrey and Mission.

As the service is staffed by volunteers, I can only wonder how many troubled teens, men and women will fall through the cracks while the crisis line is "redeployed," or perhaps there is another buzzword to cover the loss of a long-time and very successful service.

The crisis line depends on its volunteers, and frankly I can't see Royal City residents fighting traffic to do a four-hour volunteer shift at a location in Surrey or Mission.

These are just some of the cuts. I haven't touched on the thousands of surgeries that will be delayed, addiction treatments that have been cut, emergency room services that are being downgraded and slashed services for the elderly and those with mental health issues.

The only bright spot in this dismal picture is that funding for the domestic response team has been restored, but not without a fight, thanks to media attention and the hard work of many local residents.

Women and children in domestic violence situations will be safer, and for that I am grateful.

With the holiday season underway, many of us send wishes for peace, prosperity and good health to our friends and families.

We can't make the world's wars and financial problems vanish, but wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have confidence that our health-care system is ready to meet the needs of all New Westminster residents, young and old.

Now that would make for a very happy new year.