Dear Editor
It was truly “shocking” to see the letter to the editor of the Burnaby NOW from MLA Kathy Corrigan, Burnaby-Deer Lake, that was published in the Sept. 23 edition. Several words come to mind including “sour grapes” and “sad.”
We don’t see how dredging up old issues helps Burnaby Hospital in the present or for the future. To our knowledge, Premier Christy Clark has never toured Burnaby Hospital– we hope that she does one day! However, several health ministers – Socred, NDP and Liberal – have toured the hospital over the years. The future plans to redevelop/rebuild Burnaby Hospital are known by all of the politicians – NDP, Liberal et al. We are not so sure that the people of Burnaby and East Vancouver are aware of the plans. It seems so easy for our politicians to make promises when they are not actually in charge of the public purse.
The snide remark about the C. difficle issue does a great disservice to the Fraser Health Authority and all the people that work at Burnaby Hospital. Way back in 2012, when the issue came to light, Mike DeJong, health minister at the time, came to the hospital. The result: the FHA increased the cleaning budget for Burnaby Hospital. The entire staff of Burnaby Hospital went to work, from the cleaners, nurses, doctors and all. The result: Burnaby Hospital has had the highest hand washing rates amongst the staffs of FHA hospitals and some of the lowest rates of C. difficle in the FHA and probably the province. Yes, despite the old buildings!
In fact, there are more people than MLA Richard Lee, Burnaby North and Pamela Gardner for Burnaby Hospital receiving the funding from the Fraser Health Authority to open a seventh operating room. However, they both worked hard over the past year or so to help arrange the meetings, etc. to get it done.
We don’t care who gets the votes or the glory – we are just thrilled to get more resources to look after the health-care needs of the people who come to Burnaby Hospital when they need that care, especially if they need surgery.
By the way, if anyone is interested in looking at the master concept plan for Burnaby Hospital, it is on the Fraser Health Authority website at tinyurl.com/MasterSitePlanBby.
Dr. David Jones and other Burnaby Hospital physicians
