Now you see it, now you don’t. Except that you still can, sort of.
The Northern Health Authority has attempted to cover up the Mills Memorial Hospital sign recently installed on the new hospital now nearing its final stages of construction.
The letters making up Mills Memorial Hospital were first affixed to the building with each letter covered but legible in their own protective coating just two weeks ago. But within a week of that, a large green shroud was draped over the entire sign.
And it will stay that way until the health authority and others decide on the official name of the new hospital.
“The name of the new hospital requires careful consideration and we are still working through the naming process which will include input and engagement with First Nations, community members, and local and regional community leaders,” said Sarah Artis who speaks for Northern Health.
How Northern Health will canvas various groups and people about a new name was not released.
Two groups formed as part of the hospital project, one made up of community members and second made up of Indigenous people, have been discussing names but minutes of their meetings are not publicly posted.
Whatever the hospital is called, it will be a very visible sign of the mandate given by the provincial government to increase the Indigenous presence within public buildings.
It follows the provincial government’s enshrinement in provincial legislation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
As to why the Mills Memorial Hospital sign was installed when a name has yet to be decided, Artis said it fit the the original construction schedule and will remain covered “until the naming process has unfolded.”
“This means that the naming installation may not take place until after the hospital is commissioned.”
The current hospital building takes its name from Dr. Stanley Mills who arrived in Terrace in the late 1920s. Together with his wife Edith, who was a nurse, the couple provided care to area residents for decades.
The couple retired in Terrace and both lost their lives in a fire at their residence in 1961.
There is one other name associated with the current hospital now — the education room is named after Kitsumkalum elder Vera Henry.
Northern Health uses a provincial policy adopted in 2018, and predating the adoption of the Indigenous rights declaration, when it comes to naming structures.
Over four pages, the policy sets out a consistent set of what can be done and what cannot be done. Suggested names must be approved by the provincial government.
In the case of a single building or structure, portions of the building or structure can be recognized through specific name recognition.
“All naming recognition shall be consistent with the government’s values and objectives, and must uphold the integrity and reputation of the government,” reads a core provision of the policy.
Northern Health has already employed the provincial Indigenous naming directive on another substantial project — a new emergency room and intensive care unit at G.R. Baker Hospital in Quesnel. It opened last year at a cost of $27 million.
Together with the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District, Northern Health and four First Nations agreed upon what is being called a companion name for the ICU/ER unit:
Dune Soonunakehududzuk in the Carrier (Dakelh) language, Deni Belj ?Ats’enanx in the Chilcotin language and in English, The People are Healing.