Dear Sir:
In 2005, I experienced a heart attack in Terrace playing old timers hockey. It took less than 10 minutes to get me from the arena to the emergency room of Mills Memorial hospital.
I was eventually stabilized in Mills and air evacuated to Vancouver General to have a stint installed.
Mid-way through the procedure the doctors halted the procedure and told me I required by-pass surgery as the damage to my heart was too extensive for a stint.
At the same time they told me that when I went home to Terrace to say a special thank you to the ambulance crews and doctors for if I had the same heart attack in Vancouver I never would have made it to the operating room.
The time delay due to traffic conditions and distances to hospitals in Vancouver to receive that important initial first response would have been too long.
One of the unique advantages in small communities is the hospital, like everything else, is only a few minutes away. So the Fraser Institute can publish what it wants in its analysis of BC hospitals, I am just fine with Mills Memorial Hospital and the ambulance service, doctors and nurses that do such a marvelous job.
Roger Harris, Terrace, BC