Thursday March 28, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 26)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Foolish fun: White Rock Players Club’s Fools, is a Neil Simon comedy about a villageful of idiots – an invitation to “turn your brain off for two hours,” says director Ryan Mooney. › see page 33
$3 million announced
Hospice beds boosted Nick Greenizan Staff Reporter
Evan Seal photo
White Rock’s Cyndie Richards has spent hours on the road in search of her son, whom she’s been told ‘falls through the cracks’ in the system.
‘Mark my words: This will end badly’
Through one mother’s eyes A
HARD to HELP A Black Press special series examines the shattering effects of mental illness
fter reading stories in Black Press’ Hard to Help series, White Rock mother Cyndie Richards was moved to share what her family is dealing with. I am writing regarding my 33-year-old son, of no fixed address. He has a long history of undiagnosed mental-health issues and drug abuse. He has been in and out of rehab centres, recovery houses, hospitals, prison and lately, with increasing frequency, Colony Farm (a forensic psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam). You see, my son has been granted the great privilege bestowed on our citizens – the ability to make his own choices. He has the ability to choose his own health care, or lack thereof; his own living conditions (on the street); his own drug dealer; his own drug (his was heroin, now it’s crystal meth); whether he will take his antipsychotic drug or not; and whether he will steal or randomly attack some innocent person because the “voices in his head tell him to.” He has been bestowed with the great responsibility to make free, healthy choices. The only problem is - he can’t. Last month, my younger son drove to Surrey Place Mall (Central City) to pick up a card and flowers for
his girlfriend, only to see some “crazy guy in the parking lot doing the crazy chicken dance.” On closer inspection he was horrified to realize that “crazy guy” was, in fact, his older brother. He explained, “Mom, he wasn’t just the eyes-downcastdruggie but that full-fledged, out-of-his-mind mentally disturbed guy.” He drove away. I, as his mother, went looking for my older son on the streets of Whalley. I found him (Feb. 16) out of his mind. I called the police to help me take him to the hospital. They were very accommodating. At Surrey Memorial Hospital, he was eventually restrained and medicated. I met with the resident psychiatrist the next day. She wouldn’t recommend committing him. She said he would first have to deal with his addiction, which would probably take six months of being clean to diagnose. I asked, why you don’t first treat his mental illness so that he can then be well enough to deal with his addiction? She said there were no programs like that and unfortunately, my son would fall through the cracks. They said I couldn’t see him because he was still in a restricted “safe” area, but they soon discharged him on › see page 4
Hospice beds at Peace Arch Hospital have received a big boost from the provincial government. And while the $3-million grant announced Monday does not affect the White Rock South Surrey Hospice Society – a support facility across Russell Avenue from PAH – it can only help in the long run, said the society’s executive director. “Now that we know those beds are going ahead, we’re in a much better position to start moving forward with our own capital campaign for our supportive-care centre,” said Catherine Ferguson. The funds announced for the Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation will go toward expanding the hospital’s sixth-floor hospice from six end-oflife care beds to 15. “Providing end-of-life care helps people in this stage of life to die with dignity in their home community near family and friends,” said Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid in a release. “The $3-million grant… will offer additional beds in private rooms for people in the last weeks or months of life when care cannot be provided at home.” The hospice-bed increase is part of PAH’s 2012 master concept plan, which also includes an expanded emergency department, new surgical rooms and a new 200-bed residential-care building. “Building capacity – including in our hospice – on the Peace Arch Hospital campus is a top priority for our foundation and our partners at Fraser Health,” foundation board chair Graham Cameron said. “The funding… will help ensure that our community receives the hospice beds necessary to meet the demands from our growing community.” Ferguson said her society is seeking to raise money for a new supportive-care centre to better accommodate their training, volunteer and counselling services. “We’re just so busy here,” she said. The society’s current location, at 15510 Russell Ave., is also aging, highlighted by two floods, most recently in December.
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