Hospital should be priority
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Updated: October 27, 2009 9:19 AM
It was interesting to read in the Friday, October 23rd edition of the Chilliwack Progress that more than $48 million – the largest-ever capital project of the City of Chilliwack – was spent on a two-lane roundabout on the North side of Evans and the Evans Road Connector, in partnership with the federal, provincial, municipal and Squiala First Nation. That’s a lot of money!
Is traffic so bad that a flyover at Evans and a roundabout are needed?
A front-page news item reports the Chilliwack Hospital is mandated to cut their elective surgery budget by 10 to 15 percent. The so-called “saving” by this closure is not stated in dollars but a local doctor predicts some elective surgery cases could become emergencies, which will increase health care costs. The waitlists are already a month to several months for elective surgery (cataracts, gall bladder, hip replacement etc). Ask someone who has had a gall bladder attack how elective it felt!
Yet another news item deep inside the paper on page 13 reports that City Council and Fraser Health Care Foundation unveiled a banner to launch a public campaign to raise another $1 million for Chilliwack General Hospital redevelopment. This is the same City Council that spent forty times that much for a roundabout. Should our local hospital be dependent on donations for a much needed facility upgrade? Couldn’t have $1 million of that $48.8 million be given to the hospital fund? Or how about $1 million from the other levels of government? After all, the provincial and federal governments are meant to look after health care.
Did the traffic situation in Chilliwack warrant such an expense overpass? Do we need another shopping centre with a super-sized Wal-Mart, a five-theatre Cineplex and maybe a casino on 100 acres of land that presently contributes to our environmental health with trees to absorb carbon dioxide and cool the air, wetlands to filter and purify water and habitat for wildlife. What happens to Chilliwack Mall when their anchor-store super-sizes? There are already empty stores in that mall. How about the locally owned and operated Cottonwood 4 Cinemas when the multinational Cineplex opens?
Nothing about this whole situation seems to add up economically or environmentally. Isn’t it about time that we got our priorities straight?
Janne Perrin
Harrison Hot Springs
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