}

2 - Friday, October 11, 1985 - North Shore News

BEACON HILL CONTROVERSY

WV residents answer outcry

A WEST Vancouver
group says its motives
havebeeon
misunderstood.

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW

The anonymous local
group who recently aired
complaints in a letter over
what they considered to be
the discomforting number of
wheelchairs in the lobby of
Beacon Hill Lodge have
fired off another communi-
que — this time clarifying
what they claim to be the in-

tentions behind their first ,

letter.

The latest letter was sent
to pastor Don Johnson of
North Vancouver’s Gloria
Dei Lutheran church, -in
response to his September 27
News letter to- the editor.

Johnson’s letter added
another voice to the storm of
protest against the
anonymous group, following
the original Beacon Hill
story which appeared in the
September 15 issue of the
News.

Johnson said Tuesday the
group’s anonymous letter

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PERTH

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Stated that its suggestion to

‘have a screen placed in

Beacon Hill’s lobby was not
meant to blot out the lodge’s
residents from the rest of the
world, but rather to provide
them with some privacy
from prying public cyes.

. “The real issue has been
avoided,’’ Johnsen quoted
from the letter, ‘‘we were
registering our concerns for
the residents and how un-
comfortable it must be for
them to be stared at by the
public. The issue of the
screen should never have
been used. We are deeply
upset by the reaction we
have received.”’

The group, Johnson said,
claimed their real concerns,
their impetus for writing the
first letter, was to deal with
the quality of care in long
term health facilities in
general and the quality of
care provided at Beacon Hill
in particular.

OVERCROWDED
In conclusion, the group
wrote, ‘“‘the moral of the

whole story, it seems, is to
shut your eyes in this com-

ECOSSE

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munity and don’t think of
anyone else.”’

Johnson, who said he has
not visited the Beacon Hill
facility for about a year, but
had been there previous to
that time over the years in
the course of visiting various

people, said in his opinion
Beacon Hill ‘leaves a lot to
be desired. I found it over-
crowded and poorly design-
ed. This letter, | think, in-
dicates the other side of the
story and perhaps represents
the real intent of the people

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who wrote the original let-
ter.”’

John McRae, vice-presi-
dent of the Beacon Hill
Lodge residents committee,
said he saw no particular
problems with the facility,
but did say 37 per centof

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the 230 lodge residents relied

on wheelchairs to get around

‘‘in that respect it is over-

crowded, though I don’t

think that is a big issue.”’
Community Long Term

See Residents
Page 9

29

44-85-2822