CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Gerald Parsons said he didn’t become involved in lobbying for better health care on Newfoundland’s west coast because he is confrontational or to use it as some sort of political springboard.
The long-time union leader and advocate for pensioners at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper said he did it because he knows first-hand better health care is something the people of the area need and deserve. He’s had to travel to St. John’s while his wife underwent radiation treatments. And while he could manage to do that, he knows of many others who couldn’t or can’t.
So, as the back and forth continues on when a PET scanner will be put into operation at the new regional hospital being built in Corner Brook, Parsons’ frustration grows.
The issue came to the forefront in January when there was growing doubt a promise the new hospital would have a PET scanner — a 2014 pledge by former premier Dwight Ball when he was the opposition leader — might not be met.
Compounding the issue, Health Minister John Haggie and Corner Brook Liberal MHA Gerry Byrne seemed to take different stances on the issue, with Haggie saying the need for a PET scanner would be reviewed later, while Byrne claimed there would definitely be one in the hospital and that doctors would decide when it was needed.
The day before the provincial election was announced, Haggie and Byrne jointly announced the government was putting $2 million in trust, to be held by the Western Regional Hospital Foundation, for the purchase of a PET scanner.
That seemed like it should have been good news for Parsons, co-chair of the Western Regional Hospital Action Committee, but he said the announcement still didn’t give the committee the answers it needed or the peace of mind he was looking for.
On Jan. 18, Parsons and another committee member met with Premier Andrew Furey while he was campaigning in Corner Brook.
During that meeting, they presented information they had received from Siemens Healthcare Limited:
- The cost for a PET scanner is between $2 million and $3 million
- It takes 12 weeks from the time one is ordered to when it is manufactured and delivered
- A10 per cent deposit can be put down on one today even if the scanner isn’t needed until 2024.
Parsons said it was suggested to Furey in that meeting that such a down payment be put on a PET scanner now and that 12 weeks before the hospital is finished, the machine could be ordered. And he added his impression is the Liberal Leader was agreeable to the suggestion.
So, he waited for a further response, but something in writing. When he didn’t get one, the committee emailed Furey on Jan. 21 saying it was the committee’s understanding the tendering process for ordering a PET scanner would begin as soon as possible and once that was done, the Western Regional Hospital Foundation would put a deposit down on one.
The committee also suggested there could be a change in the timeline, saying that instead of 12 weeks before the hospital is finished, the foundation could direct the supplier to deliver the equipment scanner 12 weeks before the radiation unit becomes operational.
On Friday, Parsons was still waiting for a response to that latest email.
“And they wonder why there’s so much mistrust about this PET scanner,” he said.
Parsons is convinced what was discussed in the meeting with Furey could work and questioned why they would want to put $2 million in trust when they could put $300,000 or $400,000 on an immediate down payment.
“And they wonder why there’s so much mistrust about this PET scanner." — Gerald Parsons
“I’m not trying to be negative about stuff, I just can’t get a handle on what’s going on. All we’re saying is be upfront with us,” he said.
Furey was not available to speak with SaltWire Network on Friday.
An emailed statement provided on his behalf said: “Our government has shown its commitment to the people of the west coast by providing $2 million in trust to the Western Regional Hospital Foundation to be allocated towards a PET scanner upon the recommendation of the doctors and providers who deliver the cancer care.”
A further request for comment on the action committee’s suggestion was not responded to at press time.
@WS_DianeCrocker
Diane Crocker reports on west coast news.
