The Health Minister fires back at Gary Coons

"I know Mr. Coons has been beaking-off in respect of this matter."

George Abbott, BC's Minister of Health taking exception to recent comments from the MLA for the North Coast.

The health care situation in Stewart finally produced some comments from the BC Liberals this week, but little in the way of a reolution, as the BC Health Minister George Abbott fired back at Gary Coons over his recent questions about health care in rural areas.

With Stewart's hospital facing a crisis situation in providing health care these days, Abbott claims that his Ministry is doing much work to "mitigate" the situation, though his words are probably cold comfort for the folks of Stewart, who must be wondering if there is much of a future for health care in their community.

Instead of offering up solutions for the troubles of Stewart, Abbott instead trotted out a familiar refrain from the Liberals when cornered, blaming the NDP of the nineties for all the troubles, forgetting we guess that his party has been in charge of the province since June of 2001, seven years ago, regardless of what calendar one might use.

More than enough time one would hope to provide solutions for long running health care challenges.

The Wednesday Daily News outlined the Ministers response to the MLA's challenges, heavy on rhetoric as they are, but little in detail as far as solutions.

Health Minister hits back at MLA
George Abbott says Gary Coons' hospital criticsim unfounded
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Pages one and three

B.C. Minister of Health George Abbott responded to criticism that his ministry is out of touch with rural communities by saying that he indeed is aware of the lack of health service in Stewart.
Abbott was responding to comments made by North Coast MLA Gary Coons, who said that no economic good could come from a region that has little in the way of health services.

"We are well aware of the situation in Stewart and much work is ongoing through the Northern Health authority and elsewhere to try and mitigate that situation," said Abbott on Monday.

Abbott claimed one of the ways the situation in both Stewart and the whole northern sector of the province can be eased is to hire out-of-province workers, be they from Canada or outside the national border.

"One of the biggest challenges we have as a Ministry of Health is the number of physicians and nurses that are available and it is often in some of our most remote corners that we are particularly challenged on the availability of those health professionals," said Abbott.

It was revealed last week that Stewart is without full-time doctors but still has two part-time doctors working in the district.

This came after two full-time doctors resigned, citing infrastructural frustration.
Up until this summer, Stewart had a 24-hour hospital with three in-patient beds a full-time nursing staff.

During the last few months those numbers have dwindled to two full-time nurses, sporadic laboratory and x-ray coverage and the elimination of the three beds.

Abbott claimed that if the NDP wanted to be pointing fingers in faces, they should start with themselves.

"I know Mr. Coons has been beaking-off in respect of this matter. It is unfortunate that he does so, given that the route of these problems we currently have rests with the declining numbers of nursing graduates in the 1990s and the absence of investment in additional physician training," said Abbott.

Health service concern is not a new issue in the Northern half of the province. Many elections have been fought over how to provide better health care for the region.

In its Health Services Plan for 2007-2008, Northern Health reported that people living in the North had "significantly poorer health" than those in the rest of the province.

The report also noted that there are 20 per cent more deaths in the Northern Health population annually than would occur if residents of the region enjoyed the average health of British Columbians.

This difference in health status combined with the lack of scale for some non-hospital services in northern communities translates into an estimated requirement for patient hospital care that is 20 per cent higher than the provincial average.

Seeking solutions for Stewart's hospital crisis

The Northwest regional health district is expressing its "deep concern" to the Northern Health authority over the deteriorating level of health care in the Stewart region.

District Chairman Tony Briglio outlined the concerns of the district over the Stewart situation as well as the needs of other rural communities of the northwest when it comes to medical care.

Tuesday's Daily News followed up on their story of Monday, with another front page, headline story examining the crisis in Stewart and how the local district is trying to cope with the problems.

LIFELINE BEING SOUGHT FOR AILING STEWART HOSPITAL
Regional hospital district is concerned as doctors resign and in-patient beds lost
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Pages one and three

Northwest regional health district Chairman Tony Briglio said that regional district is quite concerned about what is going on in Stewart regarding its bed shortages and the resignation of doctors.

On Monday, the Daily News reported that the District of Stewart is suffering from its worst health crisis since its previous hospital blew up more than 10 years ago.

Two doctors have recently resigned, citing a lack of infrastructure and the closure of overnight beds.

"The net result of the lab and x-ray techs not being there have resulted in one of the doctors there to resign and that leaves two doctors, who are a husband and wife team who both work part-time" said Briglio.

He said the NWRHD sent a letter Friday to Northern Health outlining its deep concerns about what is going on in Stewart.

Briglio added that the regional district was concerned about the fact that the hospital was not going to have in patient beds, which were taken away after the nursing hours were cut to daytime shitfs only.

“(The regional district) is asking how we can help, in order of getting over the hurdles that are in the way, because it is not that easy to recruit to communities like Stewart and I think that if we put our combined heads together there are ways around it to give a t least a life-line in as much time as laboratory technicians can be brought in,” said Briglio.

Northern Health has not committed to any solutions yet to address the situation, but it has said it will meet with concerned stakeholders to seek a suitable solution to the problem.

According to Statistics Canada, British Columbia ranks third in the country when it comes to the amount of health care employees in each provincial health care system.

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With 198,000 employees, B. C. ranks only behind Ontario (476,000) and Quebec (325,000).
But in the North Coast there have been sever staff shortages, which have been blamed on recruitment-related issues.

UNBC expert on rural health services delivery, Martha McLeod, said that the best policy that either Northern Health or the provincial Ministry of Health can take at th is time is to work both with rural practitioners and rural community members, adding that it has become especially hard for rural communities to attract laboratory technicians.

“One of the things that does happen in rural communities is staff are being cross-trained with laboratory plus x-ray but you look at the volume in the particular place and you determine if there is enough volume to sustain in a particular community. Many communities do have those diagnostic people in the community,” said McLeod.

McLeod said there are a number of strategies that can be put into place. One is Telehealth, where communities can get a diagnosis as simply as a telephone conversation or as complicated as the transmission of medial images for diagnosis. However, that would take some x-ray training for the nurses.

Either way, McLeod says, a solution must be found for rural communities that are prone to hiring young practitioners.

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“In small communities where you don’t have immediate back-up, it can be really scary. I know Northern Health is exploring ways of having telehealth connections where there is someone at the other end of the phone line regularly for consultation,” said McLeod.

Health care in Stewart reaches crisis proportions

While the provincial government frequently refers to British Columbia as the "Best place on earth", some of the places in the "Best Place" are facing some serious challenges to the very core services of their communities.

Stewart, the northwest town on the Alaska border due north of Prince Rupert is facing as serious a health care crisis as a town could face, with two of the communities doctors resigning their positions, frustrated with the state of the health delivery system in the community.

Northern Health so far has only offered up the solution of residents making the trek to Terrace for any required blood tests or X rays, a daunting task for sure considering the nature of Northwest weather in the winter time.

The health care crisis in the community has moved the Mayor elect to taking the message of concern to the Provincial government, while local mining interests in the region add their voices of concern over the health care situation and the impact it may have on their employees and their families.

Monday's Daily News outlines the dire straits that Stewart residents are facing these days, as the town is reduced to one part time doctor, two hospital nurses and a laboratory system that is hit and miss at best.

The troubling situation in Stewart was featured as the front page headline story in Monday's paper.

HOSPITAL ON LIFE SUPPORT AS DOCTORS LEAVE THE NORTH
Stewart hemorrhaging staff from hospital and now only has one doctor on the books
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Monday, November 24, 2008
Pages one and three

Hospital services in Stewart have drastically declined in the last six months, according to newly re-elected Mayor Angela Brand Danuser and she worries that the Ministry of Health is not aware of just how bad things are.

According to Brand Danuser, Northern Health has removed three beds from its hospital; the nursing staff has dwindled to only two full time nurses; and the hospital's laboratory and x-ray coverage has become sporadic at best.

All of this pressure has resulted in two doctors handing in their resignations, claiming they've had enough of the rolled-back infrastructure.

"The doctors do not feel comfortable diagnosing and treating patients in a rural hospital," said Brand Danuser.

Brand Danuser has sent letters to both the minister of heath George Abbott and Premier Gordon Campbell outlining her concerns and pointing to the ministry of health services statement that reads: "Our mission is to guide and enhance the province's health services to ensure British Columbians are supported in their efforts to maintain and improve their health."
Brand Danuser accuses the ministry of not living up to its commitments.

With the two doctors resigning, that leaves the District of Stewart with one part-time doctor to take care of the 500 inhabitants who live there.

But 500 is not a hard population number for the popular mining town, where the rental vacancy is hovering around zero per cent and the hotel space is as coveted by transient mining industry workers as much as the mining resources they excavate.

With dwindling medical services, some of the mining industry heavyweights have petitioned Northern Health and the BC Ministry of Health for some infrastructure assistance-fearing employees will not have access to emergency medical services when needed.

"When Northern Health makes comments that we should just go to Terrace for a blood test or x-ray, you know it's just not that easy," said Brand Danuser.

"Our bus doesn't run every day or the roads could be closed, it's just not practical,"
Northern Health director of communications Steve Raper said that Northern Health is working with the community to deal with the infrastructure problem, but as of yet have not come to any decisions on what to do about it.

"We are working with community representatives and we are putting a plan in to place to address the challenges in providing services in Stewart," said Raper.

Raper said Northern Health is aware of concerns about staff shortages not just in Stewart but also around the Northern B.C. area and are working to address them.

"Everybody is really concerned. We are four hours away from any hospital on a good day," said Brand Danuser.