An open meeting between Smithers' town council and representatives from the Northern Health Authority (NHA) did not seem to do much to allay the concerns from the small but vocal crowd that showed up to hear some answers regarding the relocation of microbiology sample processing away from Smithers.

Smithers council was equally generous in dishing out their concerns over the move of Smithers' microbiology lab to a Terrace hub.

The initial presentation by Dr. David Butcher, vice-president of medicine, and NHA's Chief Operating Officer Marina Ellinson was for the most part an overview of what has already been announced.

The new laboratory system will save the authority $1 million, he said in the presentation, and there will be a reduction in just one full time laboratory technician, who they say has already found new work within the authority.

In the new model there will actually be a series of hubs: Dawson Creek, Prince George, Quesnel, Terrace and Prince Rupert will all take in microbiology samples.

"We looked at a number of different architectures of how the services would be arranged," said Butcher. "We did not get the same outcomes [in other scenarios] in terms of consistent quality benchmarks in terms of productivity and staffing."

Sitting in at the meeting was Electoral Area "A" director for the regional district Stoney Stoltenberg who feels people in the north are being cheated with their health care.

"My constituents pay the same dollar for medical care that everybody else in this province pays and we're very poorly done by by Northern Health and the province and everybody else, in the care we get here in the north," he said, to applause from the gallery.

For more read next week'sInterior News.