Monday, August 26, 2013

Re-open Riverview?

I thought that silly season had ended, how wrong I am. We can house all the senators and failed politicians with room to spare. At least we would know where the senators are really living.
Mayors calling for re-opening of Riverview Hospital
video clip: Re-open Riverview

Article about the probable cause of all this alarm; Tri-City NewsCities target gaps in care for mentally ill
Maple Ridge News:  Maple Ridge council calls for Riverview Hospital to reopen

       OppositionWarehousing mentally ill is cruel

Globe and MailDistrict urges reopening of Riverview Hospital mental-health facility

Global News:   Idea of re-opening Riverview Hospital gains traction
     Some nice comments with this article, and one un-informed comment so far.

Tri-City News:   Coquitlam lauds support for re-opening Riverview
Letter to the Editor:  Yes, reopen Riverview Hospital to help the mentally ill

Vancouver Sun:  B.C. pushed to improve mental health services, reinstate Riverview Hospital
                   Mayors, police call for provincial support for intervention centres for mentally ill, addicts

NEWS 1130:        Riverview Hospital was best for some patients: former nurse.
                      Maple Ridge Council wants to see the facility re-opened.  [ Some nice comments ]

 Topnews (NZ): Better Mental Health Care Services Needed
 Austrian Tribune:  Coquitlam’s Riverview Hospital should be reopened for Mental Health Patients

It appears that the story is gaining more legs than the average centipede...
The site was continually by previous generation dedicated to public health, lets keep it that way; get some life back into this beautiful property.

The venerable CBC radio had as a segment  on August 27;
  Call for Riverview to re-open, Life-long learning.
          Download the Podcast  [ mp3 file: runs 00:45:51 ]
Interviews with people  about re-opening Riverview, some retired staff, doctors, and head nurse Anna Tremere are interviewed.

 Hopefully if the powers that be, "see the light" and re-open Riverview, and the decent bus service will resume again.
BUS ROUTE HAS CHANGED   Low ridership blamed for bus route changes

TREEFEST
Tree 1380, looks like a cherry tree to me, Prunus sp.
Prunus serrulata “Kwanzan”. Oriental Cherry in fact.

Treefest is in September
City of Coquitlam's webpage about Treefest, and other environmental events.
Download a PDF Treefest poster, for FREE !
Tri-City News:    Riverview Treefest on Sept. 14 in Coquitlam
Green Scene, column written by Elaine Golds, ( a picture from moi !)
Apparently this years Treefest is under-funded considerably from past years, and the government bureaucrats have moved the venue area from the HEY building 
                        (which is being used by the movie industry, these days apparently)
  to the area in front of the I.D. building,(Industrial Therapy, Industrial Services), which is nearer to Finnies Garden, but farther away from the rather limited access to public washrooms.

 The staff also are adamant that they will not  have a portion of the lawn cut  as promised in a past meeting for this event; Typical !  And of course the public is not allowed to cut it either, even though we do own it !
Destruction by neglect of hard-earned taxpayer dollars that went into creating the hospital; but you can bet that the bureaucrats are still being paid handsomely.     Guerrilla grass cutting anybody ?

Save the Riverview Hospital lands

The Riverview Hospital lands, are under pressure to be developed into market housing. Help to save the lands as a healing sanctuary for the mentally ill of OUR Province.



Please join the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society,( RHCS ) Facebook page. Twitter too!

Please sign the On-line petition or download a Word document petition ,which is a more official type of petition.
Blogs, about the hospital grounds
Mike Farnworth,MLA; Facebook forum " Protect the Riverview Lands"
And another Facebook group: Riverview Preservation Society
this group also has a petition to sign.

Click-able Map of the Riverview site

BISCO -- Brookside-Leeside-Roadside -- Centre Lawn -- Colony Farm
Crease Clinic -- East Lawn -- Essondale Hospital
Finnie's Garden -- Henry Esson Young -- Hillside unit
Home for the Aged-Valleyview -- North Lawn
Nurses homes -- Pennington Hall -- TreeFest -- West Lawn
John Davidson; "Botany John" blog. He was the first Provincial Botanist, who created British Columbia's first Botanical Garden at Riverview.
Other groups involved Riverview Horticultural Centre Society
Who also have a media NEWS Blog
You can also download a 42 page report titled, For the future of Riverview created by the Riverview Task Force.
Or Burke Mountain Naturalists, report: The Riverview Hospital Site, Respecting its Past,Realizing its Future
Coquitlam has designated the buildings and grounds, as a heritage site.
Download the Statement of Significance; SoS report PDF

Tour through the grounds


Paul Buikema, of Progress Landscaping, created this video.

Treefest 2011 slideshow


A slideshow of images from the Tree festival of 2011. Created in HD. Enjoy.

Riverview trees

Finnie's Garden -- slideshow

Finnie's Garden -- Pond restoration slideshow

TreeFest -- slideshow