02.dec.06
The Edmonton Journal
Jeff Holubitsky
EDMONTON - Edmontonians concerned about the cleanliness of the restaurants where they plan to eat can now dial before they dine to ease their minds.
Capital Health is launching a pilot project today to provide telephone access to the latest inspection reports for any restaurant in the region by calling Capital Health Link at 408-5465 (LINK).
Chief Medical Officer Gerry Predy was quoted as saying Thursday that, "They can just call Health Link and indicate to staff there which restaurant they want information on and then our public health staff will look that up and call them back within one working day."
The free interim phone service, to run at least to next March before a permanent system is instituted, should also let health officials know what the public wants.
"So when we design our more permanent system, whether it be web-based or another way, we will know what kind of information people are asking for."
Predy said the service will go beyond current searchable inspection records available through The Journal's website, because staff will explain what the reports mean.
"The one advantage of doing it this way is if people don't understand, they will be able to ask a question," he said.
For instance, if a restaurant is cited for vermin, a word that can generically refer to fruit flies, cockroaches or mice, the health staff will be able to be more specific.
Capital Health started the pilot project in part because of public pressure after a Journal series called Behind the Kitchen Door that ran in September. Following the publication of the stories that reported the health authority was diligent in conducting inspections but rarely closed dirty restaurants, hundreds of readers demanded the inspection reports be made public.
Before the stories, the public could only obtain the reports by making $25 freedom of information requests.