December 14, 2011
A division of
Vol. 26 No. 99
m Co
Yo ur
ANNIVERSARY
SI
Scott Stanfield Record Staff
OWEN TAKEFMAN, PICTURED with care aide Jim Murdoch, was recently admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in respiratory distress.
is absolutely not the fault of the nurses. This is understaffing. They are just run off their feet.” Owen’s nurse could not adequately monitor his breathing and seizures because she had other acutely ill patients. When notified Takefman was being discharged, Zanbilowicz says the situation became laughable. “Where were they going to discharge him to when no one had been trained to care for his tracheotomy?” she said, noting the question became moot when he contracted C.difficile, a bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea and other intestinal problems. Takefman remains in hospital until he is better, she adds. Zanbilowicz feels her brother’s experience illustrates the problem of bed shortages and understaffing at St. Joe’s, which she attributes to lack of funding. “No one has stood up to say, ‘We can’t do this on the money you’re giving us,’ “ she says. “Eight thousand people signed a petition decrying the closing of acute-care beds and the firing of 32 nurses over one year ago but we were ignored. We were right and (thenpresident/CEO) Michael Pontus was wrong. It is a disaster and
... see UNIT ■ A2
Visitor centres will close to make way for new one Scott Stanfield Record Staff
After several years of serving the Comox Valley, the Visitor Centre on Cliffe Avenue in Courtenay will close in the spring when the Vancouver Island Visitor Centre opens its doors. The latter is scheduled to open April 1 at the interchange of the Inland Island Highway and the Comox Valley Parkway. “We’ve been the official visitor centre for the Comox Valley for over 50 years,” said Dianne Hawkins, president-CEO at the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce. “There won’t be an overlap.” The closure means two fulltime staff members and one half-
timer will lose their jobs. But the Chamber of Commerce will remain as is, “meeting the needs of the community as well as the business community,” Hawkins said. The organization relies on membership revenue. “Our quality service reports were 98 per cent when we have mystery shoppers come in and do our tests,” Hawkins said. “We’ve always had very high ratings.” Hawkins said the closure will impact the community, especially considering 60 per cent of visitors are locals. “We consistently have held numbers around 22,000 to 25,000 a year,” Hawkins said. “I wish them (new centre) all the best.” The visitor centre in Cumber-
UP TO
6,500 OFF
$
2011 Toyota Tundra
land will also cease operating as of March 31, at least in an official capacity. “It’s a big change,” Cumberland Chamber of Commerce president Meaghan Cursons said. “It’s been really wonderful to have the dollars from local government. We’ve been able to do some good promotional work for the village, and to provide a professional visitor centre, and to draw people into our historic, downtown core.” The centre had operated several years with a full-time employee and summer students. With the assistance of volunteers, the Chamber will continue to provide tourism information out of the museum. “We look forward to learning about the role the new centre will
4,750 OFF
$
play in promoting our downtown in Cumberland,” Cursons said. Adventure Management Ltd. has been contracted to operate the centre at Small Road in Cumberland. The company operates visitor centres in Kamloops, Merritt, Osoyoos, Mount Robson and Valemount in northern B.C., where it is based. The owners were in the Comox Valley last week interviewing potential employees. “It has been amazing,” Wendy Dyson said. “We’ve had over 300 applications. We haven’t actually hired any one as of yet, but we’ll have them in place very soon... This is the most we have ever received.” She recalls a previous high of
HOSPICE HELP
It’s a tough time of the year for grieving people. ■ B1
KICKERS BOOTED
A bright sunny winter Sunday at Cumberland’s Village Park provided the perfect setting for a titanic clash between the 10-0 Comox Valley Kickers and the 9-2 Velox-Valhallians as they took the field to decide the Vancouver Island Div. 3 men’s Fall rugby championship. The biggest crowd of the year; intense committed rugby by both sides; referees and touch-judges brought in especially from Victoria with miked headsets – the first ever seen in the Comox Valley.
... see COMPANY ■ A3
Only A Few Models Left! UP TO O $
UP TO
2011 Toyota RAV4
NCE 1986
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Patient safety threatened – man’s sister The sister of a 56-year-old man admitted recently to St. Joseph’s General Hospital says his health was endangered by an overwhelming patient load in a section of the Comox hospital that was restructured last year. Owen Takefman was recently admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in respiratory distress and given a tracheotomy in order to breathe, says sister Ann Zanbilowicz. The physically and mentally challenged man received proper care in the Intensive Care Unit, she says. In fact, he might not have lived through the first few days without 24-hour monitoring, Zanbilowicz adds. The situation changed, she explains, when Takefman was transferred to the medical/surgical transitional care unit on the third floor, where she says things were more stressful and chaotic for patients and staff. “What we saw and were told was that nurses are overwhelmed by the patient load,” Zanbilowicz says, noting Owen’s inability to ring a bell for help. “He was in danger because there wasn’t enough staff to sit with him. This
year
aper
Your community. Your newspaper.
inc. H.S.T.
N sp
$1.25
i t y r Yo ur
un
ew
COMOX VALLEY RECORD
m
...Full story on page ■ B7
FINDER ■ Weather
A2
■ Lottery
A6
■ Ferry Schedule
A6
■ Editorial
A23
■ Opinion
A24
■ Arts
B2
■ Sports
B7
■ Classified
B11
ALL WITH FFIINANCING AS LOW AS
5,500 OFF
2.9%
2011 Toyota Tacoma
OAC See Dealer for or Detail D Details etails tail ils
445 Crown Isle Boulevard • Call 250-338-6761 • www.courtenaytoyota.com enaytoyota com
Dlr#7478 OAC See Dealer for Details.
WEDNESDAY