Editor:
Do we abandon our homes every time they need a coat of paint? Or repair of a pipe that leaks? Or do we spend our weekends and scarce dollars to modestly and wisely do the work ourselves?
What will Coastal Health do with their white elephants – Totem and Shorncliffe – after Silverstone comes to the rescue? Tear the buildings down, even though these beds will still be required in order to serve the needs of an ever-expanding seniors population on the Sunshine Coast? Will they sell them to a private builder to do what? Or discover they could be used in some way as part of Sechelt Hospital, even though Trellis and Coastal Health insist they are quite obsolete in their present role?
The Christy Clark government has a reputation for spending money and then sending the bill to us by way of higher hydro rates, medical services plan fees, fares to travel by ferry, not to mention the runaway real estate market, to which there has been a feeble response on her part.
Clark, by way of Coastal Health, chooses to insult taxpayers on the Sunshine Coast further, but not to worry. In 2018 we will have a spanking new private facility in the suburbs of Sechelt. So cheer up, my friends! Simply smile and ignore those unhappy patients warehoused for months in much needed acute care beds, because Silverstone is full and Totem and Shorncliffe no longer exist.
Ruth Houle, executive member of COSCO (Council of Senior Citizens Organizations)
