Crowd blasts board

By Dan Hilborn
Published Feb. 7, 204


Firefighter Greg Drew drove from Langley to Metrotown on Thursday night to tell the directors of the Fraser Health Authority that there is something seriously wrong with the health-care system, and that his family paid the ultimate price.

"Are you aware that health cuts are affecting people's lives," said the grieving father of a 17-year-old son who died in Royal Columbian Hospital after being involved in a single-vehicle accident last May 11.

"What you have going on here is a farce. What can you say to me ... someone who has lost a loved one?"

Drew's heartfelt plea was probably the most emotional speech made on a night full of emotions.

More than 300 people packed into the Hilton Metrotown Hotel in Burnaby for the FHA board meeting, and their loud protests very nearly cancelled the show. FHA board members walked out of the room for about five minutes until organizers of the protest agreed to try and restrain their supporters.

Before their brief departure, board chair Barry Forbes repeatedly warned the crowd to contain themselves. "If you're not interested, we can call it off now," Forbes said after one woman interrupted for the third time. "We agree you have a right to be here. We don't debate that. But we have business to do and we can't do that if you scream at us."

It took a plea from Bill Harper, chair of the Save Saint Mary's Coalition, to calm the crowd and allow the meeting to resume.

And that's when Forbes and FHA president and CEO Bob Smith turned their scheduled business meeting into a question and answer session with the crowd.

So with microphones in hand, Forbes and Smith spent 90 minutes fielding questions from the angry crowd, the vast majority of whom came out to plead unsuccessfully for the board to reverse its most controversial decision to date and keep open Saint Mary's Hospital in New Westminster.

The most pointed exchange arose when New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright and Coquitlam's Acting Mayor Diane Thorne challenged Forbes and Smith's claims that an elected health board might have also made the decision to close Saint Mary's.

"If those city council's want to keep Saint Mary's open, we'd be happy to do that. Send money," Smith said to a chorus of boos and name calling.

"The people in this room already send you the money," retorted Wright. "They send you the money every day and every night."

And Thorne lambasted Smith for suggesting that city property taxpayers could pay for local hospitals.

"When taxpayers give us money for health care, we'll start paying for your hospitals. When are you going to start paving roads in Coquitlam?" Thorne asked.

Harper, chair of the Save Saint Mary's Coalition, repeated his call for a public inquiry into the pending closure. He said the privately-owned Saint Mary's Hospital was not treated in a "fair and equitable manner" to the FHA hospitals, as spelled out in the provincial legislation.

He also claimed that the 'continuity plan' that was supposed to keep the hospital open in a limited fashion is in fact the main reason why the facility is closing.

"We say your action in forcing the hospital to sign that agreement is the reason they were forced to close that hospital," Harper said. "The truth is, the continuity plan is a failure. For patients who aren't getting their treatment, this plan is a failure."

Jaimie McEvoy, organizer of the coalition, said there are major discrepancies in the board's public statements about how much money the health board will save by closing Saint Mary's, with the publicized figures ranging from $5 million to $22 million.

"There's no intention to try and confuse the issue," said Smith, who called on FHA vice-president of finance Brian Woods to explain the numbers.

Woods said the original estimate was for an $18 million saving, but that was reduced to $15 million by a planned injection of cash for the hospital which was later withdrawn, reverting the cost savings back to the original estimate of $18 million.

At times, the meeting turned raucous, particularly when the crowd took exception to some of the comments and responses made by Smith and Forbes.

For example, Smith triggered a chorus of boos when he erroneously stated that Saint Mary's was located in a city that was "not growing." Later in the meeting, Forbes acknowledged that eight of the 10 fastest growing communities in the province are in the FHA, and New Westminster is one of those.

New Westminster city councillor Chuck Puchmayr said that as a citizen he was particularly upset by the health board's decision to walk out of the meeting hen things got loud. He noted the previous NDP appointed health board sat through two equally raucous public meetings without leaving.

"They listened and took a lot of abuse and never once left the podium. What a difference today," Puchmayr said. "You can run, but you can't hide."

Joining the critics was former Saint Mary's board member and chair Betty Wynn, who challenged Smith and Forbes on their version of why the hospital is closing. Wynne repeated her claims that hospital board was never given adequate time to come up with an alternative plan before the decision to close was announced.

When Smith noted that the FHA tried to have a 'conversation' with Wynne about the pending closure in July, Wynne said that meeting was scheduled just two days after she got out of surgery.

Forbes claimed that the board "wanted" to buy services from the hospital, but "unfortunately, we were rebuffed by the (Saint Mary's) board and by the CEO. That's what happened." he said.

When Wynn claimed that she tried to obtain a meeting with the FHA officials in early summer, Forbes responded: "I invited you. Didn't your CEO give you that?" Wynne refuted the claim, and Forbes replied: "We can agreed to disagree about that comment."

New Westminster resident Janet Taylor took offense to the response to her question about how long it would take for a New Westminster resident to travel to Eagle Ridge Hospital in Coquitlam where many of the Saint Mary's Hospital services are being relocated. Forbes told her that it was the same travel time as the return direction. "My question you insult facetiously," Taylor said.

Elsie Dean, a Burnaby NOW columnist and seniors' activist, said the health board simply has its priorities wrong.

"It seems to me it's a philosophy you're working from and it's not a health philosophy but a money philosophy," said Dean, a spokesperson for the Network of Burnaby Seniors.

While several members of the audience raised concerns about the presence of dark-clad security guards and two police officers in the room, FHA spokesperson Helen Carkner noted the extra security is a standard precaution at recent board meetings.

Also in attendance were Liberal MLAs Joyce Murray of New Westminster, Harry Bloy of Burquitlam and Richard Lee of Burnaby North.