To the editor:
While the Skeena Valley Seniors Society celebrates and welcomes the opening of the Ksyen Regional Hospital Terrace, we continue to question the need to demolish Mills Memorial Hospital.
It has been our firm conviction that the building can be repurposed into badly needed seniors and community services. But our suggestions were rebuffed by both Northern Health and Adrian Dix, the former health care minister.
Our society flagged both Seven Sisters mental health care residence (which has now been demolished) and Mills Memorial as much needed-to-retain buildings on site.
We were told they needed to be removed to accommodate much needed parking. However, the green space and planned elaborate concrete curbing are the cause of parking restrictions, not buildings on site.
A year ago we suggested the land around the new hospital be paved in blanket style (like that of Walmart) to make good use of available land for parking. Northern Health however has deemed that people's needs do not trump a pretty parking lot.
It's not too late to save this resource and re-purpose the building for use by our community for detox, for unmet treatment needs in our community, for long- and short-term care, for respite care, for out-of-town family short term stays, for community cluster care and the list goes on.
Skeena Valley Seniors Society believes that this Mills Memorial building needs to stay; even if just for the next 20 years until the baby boomers have outlived its use.
Diana Penner,
Skeena Valley Seniors Society
Terrace, B.C
