2 — Friday. December 26, 1997 — North Shore News NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge Age.. 7 Recent book...... Zorba the Greek Favorite bond............Pink Floyd Travelogue....itaty, France, Spain Favorite food................Mexican bikes................-..h4onest people Emerg From page 4 Over the. holidays, 22 rehabilitation and. eight psy- chiatric beds at Lions Gate are also being closed, said Madifl. The emergency doctor said there are not enough beds kept open in the hospital and the problem is exacerbat- ed with summer and holiday closures, such as the one Friday, “There are more people coming in who need hospital beds than there are hospital beds to puc them in,” he said. “The emergency depart- ment ends up being a dump- ing ground for everybody and anything nobody else can deal _with. It is continuously, extremely busy and it adds an enormous amount of stress to everybody who works there.” The patients waiting in emergency instead of other wards do not have access to all the proper equipment the hospital has, the doctor said. He said the problem is not new but recently has been “acutely” worse than before. The physician added the problem exists throughout the country. The physician said the jams in emergency have started to have a «pillover effect on ambulance waits. He said he’s witnessed ambulance attendants wait as long as an hour to get a patient off a stretcher and into. the hospital. But that patient was not in critical con- dition. Tim Jones, the North Vancouver station unit: chief for the B.C. Ambulance Service, said Friday was a busy CHIEF administrator Stew Madil! ... “There was a bit of stress on the system...” day for ambulance attendants, who experienced short delays when unloading their patients at Lions Gate emergency. He added that ivcal ambu- Jance crews have waited up to an hour to unload patients at Lions Gate because the hospi- tal didn’t have any beds avail- able. Jones said the problem is nowhere mear as acute at Lions Gate as some Vancouver hospitals, where ambulances can be delayed tor six hours while emergency room staff scramble tor beds. At one time Friday, his ambulance service fielded eight North Shore calls. The number of calls stretched the four ambulances pest their Hmit and ambu- lances from other areas, such as Vancouver, responded to North Shore calls, said Jones. At the same time, emer- geney staff members were Boname defends WV stance From page 1 coming to you and talking to you,” said Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) Chairman Patrician Baldwin. Baldwin appeared before West Vancouver District council on Monday to ask for neighborly consideration in the matter involving Westcoast Gas Services Inc.'s proposal tor the $120-million storage facility. The freility would stare the liquefied naiural gas and be able to supply up to 300 million cubic feet of gas daily during winter months — enough gas to meet the needs of 300,000 houscholds. Kor the project to proceed, Westcoast Gas must first receive approval from = the B.C, Environmental Assessment Office, the B.C. Urilities Commission and the Sunshine Coast Regional District. Baldwin, speaking on behalf of her regional district, stated that she found it highly unreasonable that the mayors of Lions Bay and West Vancouver found it necessary to speak out against a project that they do not fully under- stand. Baldwin said: “I was dis- mayed to find (in the newspa- per) more — inflammatory remarks not only by the mayor of Lions Bay bur by the mayor of West Vancouver. So I thought I should come to you and demonstrate that the SCRD is not filled with hillbil- lies or loggers. We have a very sophisticated community.” Her anger stems from a ency overload TIM Jones, B.C. Ambulance Service “... stacking patients up like cordwood...” busy with patients arriving, said Jones. “They were stacking patients up like cordwood,” he said. “Staff were doing their best to accommodate us.” Jones said he’s been on the North Shore since 1986 and he’s seen calls increase, but the volume is manageable. Madill said: the hospiral’s average turnaround time tor ambulances is 20 minutes. “Thac’s noc a bad turn- around time,” he said, adding the time takes into account from when the ambulance arrives until when it’s ready to take another call. Madill said it’s crucial the $100-million-a-vear hospital does not go over budget this year because hospital reserves have been depleted. Ac one time this year, the hospital was over budget by $400,000, but “we're almost back to even,” said Madill. recent North Shore News article that described the post- tion of both municipal politi- cians. Said Baldwin: “It was with some surprise, in fact rather a degree of shock, that I discov- ered thar the (West Vancouver) council — had already voted in opposition to this project. “ft thought it was rather sort of Napoleonic to vote in opposition to a project when still a terrific amount of envi- ronmental and technical intor- “The SCRD is not filled with hillbillies or loggers... ” — SCRD Chairman Patrician Saldwin mation is coming in.” West Vancouver Mayor Pat Boname explained that her comments to the North Shore News were altered and that she really was not trying to interfere, but simply to rep- resent the concerns of West Vancouver citizens. Said Boname: “When this issue came before us, there were questions raised because it is an unusual facility. So all we're asking for is more infor- mation. The people in the western end are-very interest- ed, so there is a Segitimate concern.” Continued Boname: “When I was discussing the issues, (I was) saying it was quite polarized. On the one hand you have the Sunshine Coast: saving, ‘Everything is just fine and dandy, we're quite intelligent and we're going through all of these procedures’, and on the other hand, I said, ‘We have these other [letters circulating char there is a great danger.” “f said something to the effect that there is fear of a holocaust. Now the North Shore News doesn’t use the word holocaust anymore and that became translated into Hiroshima.” Baldwin shot back at the mayor: “It’s inappropriate to discuss any, very emotional, sery complex applications, wich such terms.” She also said that the com- ments “raised fear in my com- munity.” Boname explained that she was simply trying to point out the polarized situa- tion and that much more information is required. Baldwin requested a meet- ing to discuss the community Positions one jurisdiction to another. She also urged coun- cil co “not wage that war in the newspaper.” The proposed gas facility will be located on a 24- heetare McNab Creek site 7.5 kilometres inland from Howe Sound. Lions Bay is approxi- mately 20 km from the site and West Vancouver 30 km. Westcoast Gas has been actively promoting, the facili- ty’s safery. Company represen- ratives Doug Halverson, man- ager of external affairs, and Doug Thorneycrott, project manager, were on hand to answer questions at Monday’s council meeting. Finally, the cell phone for people who don't want to be seen with a cell phone. 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Fears have been raised in Lions Bay and West Vancouver about the possibly catastrophic impact of an earthquake in the area. The visual impact and resulting, noise from the stor- age facility also concern resi- dents, as many fear it might interfere with the natural splendor of Howe Sound. Boname said that an open house on the facility is planned for January at the Gleneagles Golf Course. Westcoast Gas encourages the public to attend and learn more about the technical and visual aspects of the proposed facility. Meanwhile, the B.C. Utilities Commission — has already closed its proceedings for the application. The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office will close its proceed- ings Jan. 12, 1998. The Sunshine Coast Regional dis- trict will close its public hear- ing sometime in February. Motorola StarTAC™ Lynn Valtey Centre 1199 Lynn Valley Rd. North Van 990-4017 “$99 Motorola ‘StarTac™ and $25.95 a month cellular plan based on a 12-month contract. New customers only, OAC. 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