The Northern Health Authority may not have fully decided how it will choose a name for the new hospital now nearing the end of construction, but it has decided it will not be the one of the current facility – Mills Memorial Hospital.
Crews have now covered up the three words that were inadvertently affixed to the structure in late February with material of the same colour as the rest of the building.
“The previous covering was always a temporary covering while we were waiting for this more permanent covering to arrive,” said Northern Health official Sarah Artis of what had been a green shroud-like material used to quickly cover up the words ‘Mills Memorial Hospital’ when they were first mounted on the building’s exterior.
As to a new name, Artis said Northern Health is still trying to establish how it will make that decision.
“We are still working through this process. We will have more information to share once the meetings with First Nations and community partners are underway,” she said.
Northern Health set up a community advisory group and an Indigenous advisory group three years ago to deal with issues surrounding the new hospital. The minutes of the groups’ meetings are not freely available.
The Indigenous group is primarily made up of the Kitsumkalum First Nation and the Kitselas First Nation with representation from the Metis Nation B.C., the Nisga’a Nation and the First Nations Health Authority.
The community group primarily has city, regional district, social services, and seniors representatives.
Artis said area residents will have the chance to voice their opinions on the web page dedicated to the construction project.
The current hospital is named after Dr. Stanley Mills, an early physician to the area who along with his wife Edith, a nurse, provided medical care for decades.
They died in a 1961 house fire shortly after the current hospital was opened. The hospital was then named Mills Memorial Hospital.
There’s been no official explanation of why a new name is necessary for the new hospital, but a 2018 provincial naming policy indicates that “if the opportunity for naming recognition is to replace an existing name, consideration should be given to the history or legacy of the current name and whether the existing name might be incorporated into the proposed new name.”
There is also a policy on co-naming which was used last year when two Indigenous names were added to G.R. Baker Hospital in Quesnel following the addition of a new emergency room and new intensive care unit. But Northern Health has not indicated if that is being considered with the Terrace facility.
“We are also committed to recognizing the traditional territory on which the new hospital is located as well as recognizing the people of the region the new hospital will serve,” said Artis.
“We will also acknowledge the history of the old hospital in the new hospital.”
However a name is chosen, it is subject to approval by the Northern Health Authority board. Final approval rests with the provincial government.