1982 - 83 Report to the © North Shore Community Thursday, September 8, 1983 6:30 P.M. North Vancouver Recreation Centre The Annual General Meeting of The North and West Van couver Hospital Soctety will be held at the North Vancouver Recreation Centre, 123 East 23rd Street, North Vancouver, B.C. on the 8th day of September 1983. Registration will begin at 6:15 p.m. Chatrman will convene the meeting at 6:30 p.m. and will immediately declare a recess until 7: pm. which will permit members to vote for candidates to the rd of Directors prior to re-commencement of the meeting. Members must vote between 6:30 pm. and 8B pm No ballots will be issued after 8:00 p.m Nominees to the Board of Directors will not be speaking at the Annual General Meeting but may be heard on a special presentation by Cable West, Channel 10 on Thursday, September Ist at 8:00 p.m. The program will be repeated on the same channel, Wednesday, September 7th at 8:00 p m ANNUAL MEETING | Entering a new era of health care The scientific revolution of the past quarter century has had an enormous impact on medicine and the delivery of health care. It seemed as If there would be no end to the new discovertes, the new technology, the new techniques | all promising a better quality of life, relief from pain, cures for Ills that had always beset mankind. Science was challenged and the response was overwhelming. Hospitals expanded and raced to stay abreast as technology . The end of an era where growth was of as proper and inevitable has been as sobering as a 5 immersion tn cold water We now find ourselves capable of delivering a quality and range of care far tn excess of our ability to pay it. The problem ts not unique to Canada; the entire Western world ts facing the challenge of how to most effectively chan ne! its health care resources. That challenge ts complex — tt involves new delivery modes, a hard look at the expectations placed on hospitals, ter awareness and responsibility on the part of individuals to promote and protect their health And It involves some very difficult questions of priorities. ethics and values. Although it seems as though the “crunch” tn health care has artved very suddenly, the present recession has sharpened our focus on a situation that has been developing for some time. The teeth of the crunch were felt at LGH fifteen months ago when a drastic reduction tn operating funds forced the closure of 55 beds and the lay-off of 144 hull tume staff. Since that time, resources at the hospital have been under con stderable strain The occupancy rate has been high and there are occasions when there ts literally a “tull house” This puts a great deal of pressure on the hospital's facilities, particular- ly with most departments operating with reduced staff. When beds are limited, they are reserved for acutely ill pa- tients. Gone are the days of the “walking wounded”. And a lot of the stress of a hospital full of acutely ill patients ts bome by the nursing staff. With the continuing appearance of new medical pro- cedures and technology, nursing has become more complex and specialized. Many trauma patients require one-on-one round the clock nursing attention and intensive care nursing ts a demanding speciality area. The tremendous advances in surgery call for spec skills and knowledge in both operating room and ward nurses. Gerontology, the care of the elderly, and palliative care. the care of the dying, are at- tracting nurses to pioneer in new fields demanding a special kind of dedication and skills. There ts constant updating and inservice training - for ad- mintstering and monitoring potent new intravenous drugs, for new surgical techniques, foe new equipment, for changes in post-surgery care methods. But while the nursing profession keeps pace with scientific advances, the traditional concept remains as essential as ever. Patients must be fed and washed, bedpans emptied. But most of all, the comforting, caring and reassurance pro- vided by the nurse ts as vital to the well-being and recovery of the sick and injured as ever before. LGH ts not a teac hospital and must necnilt and hold nurses trained in s' ized care areas. With our reduced nursing staff and restricted operating budget it is not a small task.