Pubdate: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC) Copyright: 2003 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://www.pentictonherald.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/664 Author: Wolf Depner NEEDLE EXCHANGE MAY NOT GO AHEAD NEAR KIDS' DAYCARE Health outreach plans that include a downtown needle exchange may change after officials met Monday with concerned parents and the mayor. "I can't say whether that (the needle-exchange) will be part of the project," said Colleen Maloney, public health nurse. "It is not an essential component of the project. "We have slowed the process down. We have stepped back and we are looking at it in a different way." About 12 people - most of them parents of children at the Penticton Early Childhood Centre at 521 Martin St. - attended a meeting with health officials, held to address concerns over a proposal that called for a public health nurse to work out of the nearby Penticton Outreach Centre two hours a week, on a three-month trial basis. "I don't know what form it is going to take, but the bottom line is we are going to continue working towards a needs assessment for a street nurse in Penticton," said Maloney. "That was the primary purpose of what we wanted to do with the project." The exchange of used needles for clean ones was a part of the proposal, but while it is needed downtown, it is not a crucial part of plans, Maloney said. Health officials will now explore their options in cooperation with all community partners, she said. Nobody says there isn't a need for the kind of services being proposed, said Heather McDonald at the meeting. But the location is "troubling" because it risks exposing children attending the daycare to inappropriate behaviour and discarded needles, she said. "Have you looked at another location? Why next to a daycare?" she asked. Parent Marlene Jones agreed. "This gives me the chills," she said. Fiona Wilkie, a daycare employee, said the business would lose clients if the needle exchange goes ahead. "This is a business," she said. "We have to attract customers." She also wondered why the daycare centre was not initially consulted. "There has been zero communication," she said. That was a mistake, said Maloney, who apologized. "At the time, we really didn't see that there would be any impact on the neighbourhood," she said. "As far as I am concerned, I feel what we are trying to do would improve the neighbourhood, would provide a healthier neighbourhood. But I can certainly appreciate that the daycare, as a business, has some reservations around the idea, because of public perception mainly." Mayor David Perry, who listened for most of the hour-long meeting, was "shocked" to hear a needle exchange might have gone into the Outreach Centre without a more formal vetting process. But he appreciated Maloney's expression of regret about the lack of communication, adding he would arrange more discussion through the city's social development advisory committee scheduled to meet Dec. 11. "We need to decide on a way to go ahead," he said, adding that Penticton needs a street nurse. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens