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THE ELIMINATION of chaplaincy services by the Fraser Valley Health Authority
(FVHA) is uniting what some would see as very disparate forces.
A group of faith leaders in Abbotsford has been meeting to draft a proposal
aimed at restoring the position of spiritual care coordinator to Abbotsford Regional
Hospital.
Meanwhile, members of the NDP have taken a stand against the cuts, expressing
severe criticism of the B.C. Liberals.
The FVHA announced in November that it would be eliminating 12 spiritual care
positions, claiming that some $650,000 would be saved. Opponents of the move
claim a far higher price will be paid, in damage to patients’ well being.
“Recovery and healing involves physical, emotional and spiritual components. To
make matters worse, reducing staff increases the likelihood that hospitals will
push people through the system before they are fully recovered, costing more in
the long term,” said NDP health critic Adrian Dix.
Shortly after the FVHA’s decision, some 30 members of the Abbotsford Christian Leaders Network (ACLN)
met to consider a response which could salvage the hospital position.
The first meeting was chaired by Rev. Dr. Hans Kouwenberg, who told the Abbotsford Times: “There was some appetite for providing partial funding from the churches,” he said. He noted that some churches had supported hospital personnel at
various times over the years.
“The question for us now is whether that [support] is forever, or whether that’s bridging until Fraser Health gets out of this mess.”
A second meeting was attended by FVHA representatives; MLAs John van Dongen and Mike de Jong; six representatives of local Sikh, Hindu and Muslim believers; and
eight ACLN members.
The faith representatives agreed to work on a proposal, after which they would
schedule further negotiations with the FVHA and the politicians.
The NDP has kept up its criticism of both the FVHA and the Liberals.
“A holistic approach that recognizes the role of a person’s faith in recovery has become the standard in health care. By eliminating the
role chaplains play, the B.C. Liberals are creating a gap in patient care,” said Dix.
“The government’s own record contradicts their claim that chaplains are dispensable,” said deputy health critic Sue Hammell.
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“For years, the health authority and the B.C. Liberals acknowledged that
spiritual care practitioners need to be part of the team who deliver patient
care.”
According to a December 11 NDP media release, “Hammell added that patients should not have to pay the price for the B.C.
Liberals’ bungling of FVHA’s budget for their own re-election purposes.”
Hammell further con-tended: “If the government had allowed FVHA to plan its budget earlier, the health
authority could have avoided deep cuts to programs and staff. Being forced to
balance the books mid-year has amplified the cutbacks.”
The NDP release also asserted: “The health authority’s plan to attempt to replace hospital chaplains with social workers and
volunteers is bound to fail.”
“Social workers are also being laid off, despite the need for more staff to deal
with the existing caseload,” said MLA Raj Chouhan, adding: “It was the spiritual care practitioners who trained and oversaw volunteers.”
The NDP release concluded: “Representatives from faith groups joined New Democrats today in urging the
Health Minister to restore the spiritual care positions . . . New Democrats are
holding the B.C. Liberals accountable for . . . backtracking on their election
promises to protect health care.”
As of press time, the Liberals had issued no response to their critics.
– David F. Dawes
January 2010
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