Pianned staff cuts reduced at Lions Gate PLANNED staff cats at Lions Gate Hospital to offset a projected $2.5 million budget shortfall in the current fiscal year will be approximately half of what was) originally estimated by the facility's administration, LOH president Robert Smith said an external review of two hospital departments and the ce- cent E7-day strike by the B.C. Nurses" Union and the Hospital Employees Union have been major factors in changing the original plan, “Surgery,” he said, ‘will not have to be as radical as we origi- nally thought.” In April, LGH hospital unions protesied the possible cuts to LGH community health services and the elimination of up to 45 full-time equivalent (FTZ) positions. But Smith said Tuesday only about 20 FTE positions will be eliminated in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 1990. An external assessment of the hospital’s yehabilitation and social LGH PRESIDENT Robert Smith +. “Surgery will not have to be as radical as we originally thought.’’ work services departments, both of which were facing proportionately larger siaff cuts than other departments, concluded that origi- nal planned reductions were too severe. As a result, Smith said the an- nualized FTE reduction in rehabilitation services will be 8.1 FTE positions in the current fiscal year rather than the 11 initially planned. — Rehabilitation services. . which currently has 58 FTE positions, in- cludes physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Social work services, which helps families and patients adjust to the social and emotional com- plications that result from illness, will reduce its 15 FTE positions by 2.1 rather than 4.0. But, while the staff cuts in the two departments are less than orig- inally planned, Health Sciences Association spokesman Steve Waddell said the union is concern- ed with both the process of the reductions and the effect shey will have on overali quality of Business .............. 36 Comies................41 Entertainment ..........20 Fashien........-.....- 18 Horoscopes ............ 30 Bob Hunter............ 4 Lifestyles..............37 Mailbox............... 7 Travel ........---6205. 23 Sports ........-2...2.. 18 rehabiliiation services at the hospi- tal, The government, he said, ‘will not be reviewing the situation nail after September, These cuts are ef- fective at the end of the month, So it's ludicrous to do any review after the cuts have been made."’ Waddell said nursing teams like the one in LGH's rehabilitation department were highly skilled and not casily reassembled once dismantled. He added thai pushing services to the private sector would mean a drop in quality because private sector resources are not as extcn- sive as those available at a hospi- tal, And profits that should be pumped cack into public health care, Waddell said, will instead be diverted to the private sector. In addition to staff reductions in the rehabilitation and social ser- vices departments, which will be phased in over the summer, LGH will also close 39 acute care beds permanently. The closure means another 27.7 FTE positions at the hospital will be eliminated. And though the beds are cur- rently closed as part of annual summer bed closures, their perma- nent closure has been pushed back from October to next January because of the recent health union strikes. Smith said the delay in perma- nent closure means the impact in the current fisca) year will be the Joss of just under 7.0 FTE posi- tions. . An additional 3.0 FTE have been eliminated from housekeep- ing and maintenance departments. Smith said the hospital will also reduce its out-patient services by refusing to accept outside referrals to rehabilitation services and is still negotiating with the provincial government to have LG's medi- cal day centre programs specifical- ly funded. : The provincial ministry of health was scheduled to review LGH’s overall operation and some of its services in May to ascertain whether the hospital was eligible for additional operating funds, but the recent strikes forced cancella- tion of that visit and Smith said the review would likeiy not take place until the fall. The costs of the strike and the tentative contract settlements and the effects they wili have ca LGH’s budget for the balance of the year have also yet to be deter- mined, Smith said. Sunday, mostly cloudy with showers possible. High 19°C, low 11°C. Monday anc Tuesday, mostly sunny, highs near 29°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885 NEWS phoio Tom Burtey EMERGENCY PLANNING oa the North Shore was the topic of discussion st au Emergency Social Services Open House recently held at North Vancouver District Municings Mall, Volunteer Eleanor vander Waerd, left, and Krysha Deshyshire discuss (he articles that ave important to have on hand in case of emergencies such as an certhquake, fire or fioad. Vander Woerd is an alternate clothing coordinator and Derbyshire an alternate Emergency Social Services director with the District of North Vancouver. LIONS GATE TREATMENT PLANT Sewage funds okayed THE GREATER Vancouver Regional District has approved $300,000 for two effluent improvement projects at the North Shore’s Lions Gate sewage treatment plant. The decision follows recom- mendations made in the GVRD’s stage one Liquid Waste Manage- ment Plan, which was released in March and outlined a $1.5 billion upgrade strategy needed for the region's sewer system. Of the funds approved for the Lions Gate plant, $250,000 will be invested in the purchase and in- stallation of dechlorination equipment for the plant’s discharge, while an additional $50,000 will be used to study and select dewatering equipment for * the plant’s sludge. Effiuent dechlorination and elimination of sludge discharges from the Lions Gate plant were identified by the stage one GVRD plan as projects that should pro- ceed immediately. Dechiorination, according to the liquid waste plan, would reduce acute toxicity of the plant’s ef- fluent by 95 per cent and eliminate potentially toxic chlozine residues. Chlorine is added to outgoing sewage from the Lions Gate plant from May to September to reduce the risk of beach pollution during the summer bathing season. Dechlorination equipment would add sulphur dioxide to the chlori- nated effluent thereby reducing the chlorine to a relatively harmless and dilute hydrochloric ‘acid solu- tion. The system has been used in the By TIMOTHY RENSHAS News Reporter GVRD's Annacis Island and Lulu Island sewage plants since the carly 70s. Brian Talbot, GVRD manager of environmental services and head Dechlorination, according to the liquid waste plan, would reduce acute toxicity of the plant's effluent by 95 per cent and eliminate potentially toxic chlorine residues. of sewage and drainage services, said the system should be operating in time for the 1990 chlorination season. In addition to being the only GVRD_ sewage plant currently discharging chlorine, Lions Gate is also the only one of the four GVRD sewage plants that discharges treated sludge. The substance, which is initially News staff win NORTH Shore News staff won recognition in three categories of this year’s Ca- nadian Community News- papers Association (CCNA) Better Newspaper Competi- tion. MICHAEL BECKER ... North Shore News reporter. News reporter Michael Becker won first place in the national competition’s best historical story category for newspapers with a circulation of more than 12,500. Becker, who has been with the News since 1986, picked up the award for a story written about the designation of the Britannia Mines concentrating mill complex as a national historic site. News photographer Neil Lucente won first place honor in the best photo essay category for newspa- pers with a circulation of more than 12,500. Lucente, who has been with the paper for three years, won for a full-page photo essay focusing on a group of young dancers rehearsing at Ren Andrews Recreation Cen- tre, The News also earned third removed as screened solids from raw sewage then thickened and treated in digesters over a 30-day period, is discharged by the Lions Gate plant on designated days over a two-hour period, one hour after ebb tide. According to the GVRD’s liquid waste study, the sludge is a major source of First Narrows water con- tamination. Dewatering would be the first step in removing sludge from regu- lar sewage discharge. Once dewatered, sludge would be truck- ed to sludge lagoons at one of the other GYRD sewage plants, then recycled as fertilizer. The Lions Gate plant services the entire North Shore and pro- cesses an average daily sewage flow of 17 million galions. In addition to approving funds for the Lions Gate plant, the GVRD has also decided to proceed with two sewerage studies it con- siders vital to protecting the Lower Mainland environment: © $275,000 to initiate studies on the environmental impact of combined sewer overflows from Vancouver and Burnaby on Vancouver har- bor, and the impact of combined sewer overflaws from Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster on the Fraser River. e $85,000 for the first step in an action plan to improve Burrard In- let water quality. The GVRD is still awaiting fi- nancial assistance for its sewage upgrade from the provincial and federal governments. awards place in the best Christmas edition category for newspapers with a~ circulation of more than 12,500. The awards will be presented at the CCNA annual convention at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ot- tawa, July 19 to 22. NEIL LUCENTE ... News photographer.