The Lucknow Sentinel, 1959-04-22, Page 2RAGE • ' if o
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fH.R • ILUCKNOW SENTINF,L, LUCKNOW,. ONTARIO
outtilifes:,„,..coutity Home .P.Ians
� Refuting Chaiiges By Choiley. �Enfierprise
Ed ,tor aid,?' the: Lucknow Serntinei,
know. Ontario.,
Tear Sir;; '
This letter is . reply' to an
•editorial in the Chesley Enter-
prise of April g, re the . Bruce
'Oottuty Home, under the heading
44County Council :'Went Off The
Deep—gni',. in which Mr. Sch,aus
criticised theCCounty Home tom-.
,3•mittee of not investigating and
having. More answers in regard
` to the building ;of 'a new,iiolm,
' Did Mr.- Sehausor any of the
o r editors, do any investigat-
or
ask. a qsty
�ue 'o
any ns • .been"
.. '444
the ,County`. Home Cor mit'tee, or
officials,: before they started the
slanderous back-biting ' charges
they have made.
'Report In =flutes.
If. Mr, Schaus will, take the
troulble to .look on page 53 and
54 of •`the minutes of the June
session, • 1958, he will find- the
County _ • Home' Committee's ' re-
port, in which two•„ of the. -con-
p eluding paragraphs are as ' foZl
"After careful consideration of
this matter. your''Committee . re-
commends that Council approves
their further investigating) - this
matter with a, view to providing
aecoanodationfor gybed care pat
lents • in our County Home,.
"Your Committee proposes to
• .engage n arc architect i .
.:.. a
,,... 1i et .to: adv se on
the possiubility . of converting the
present : building to 'a bed care
-section and providing 'accommo-
dation for. the • other , groups: in
new buildings adjacent to 'it;"
This. report was adoapt'ed:. by
County Council and ort. July 8th,
after having made;'en .appoint -
merit with Deputy Minister, E,
Ludlow -in Toronto we spent 3
or 4 hours in his office., The gen-
eral 'information :'we received
was to visit several cherries to aid
us in making our .plans, which
the architect ° was to prepare. and
submit to • the Department for
theirapproval before `submitting
same to ` the 'Co �m�mittee:
Mr.:. Ludlow .'made the state.-
'merit < that, it was about. time
Bruce , {County startedto wake
up. "Its just :12 years ago that I
was appointed tomy4present job
and right' after : my appointment
1 went up; and tried to get Brace
to build. a new .,home."
Old
Rome To ,Go
. Ineo rse' of the converse -.;4444 .:..: the � ,
tion Mr.. Ludlow asked. what we
-.had : in mind. We told him we
thad decided 'onplans for a wing
as we thought our present abuild-
ing .was satisfactory for the pre-
sent tizne and we just needed a
bed -care wing: He' stated that in
ten years time our present home
would •.no: . longer be there and
the only way they would consid-
' er our &{ernee was a master plan'
of our future Thome: with the old
building, torn down . and plans
drawn yup • for, a complete • new
home, not only for the present
.need, :but ' a . •hoane that must . be
.big enough for the 'next twenty
years
• Per bed costs of such a plan
would run between six and . `sev
•en thousand dollars per • bed, in-
cluding
. bed accomodation for
staff, sick .bay 'beds, quiet bed,
'and patient : beds, with over .half.
the beds for senile and bed -care
patients. .
As you, will realize, this type
of care calls'. for the same style
'of rooms which hospitals have
requiringdoors about a, foot'
wider than regular doors for
getting wheel chairs and beds in
and out Thisalso ,requires wide.
halls with a minimum width of
at least Six feet
The Department has the .pri-
vilege of approving or condemn-
ing any pYa ns, but will not 'allow
a committee or architects to
view the plans they have on
hand as they want new ideas
coining in, hoping. that they will
get the perfect. plan. .
inspect Other Homes •
After leaving the Deputy's of-
fice we went to Whitby, St.
, Catharines, •T'etrolia and 'Kitch-
ener.
Kitch-ener: This took three days •and
the Committee travelled approj
Invitely 80o miles. Then on "the
recommendation of an inspector
of the Department, we went. to
.Renfrew,. -Belleville ; and other.
homes and drove several hund-
red miles more. '
On these trips vire. gathered in
formation on type and style of
homes,: convenience of building,
type of patient and trend of
home {care. ' • We spent hours' in
these homes, walked :Miles and
asked' hundreds.' 'of questions.;
Some . of•' these ,homes are new.
Renfrew. s '
wa dust, opened, Pet-.
rolia last year,.. and Others'`Up to
ten years ago. The :answers were
mostly the same, ..faulty con-
struction, ..poor ventilation, too
much walking in.- one -floor and
some ., two -floor buildings, The
type and trend of patient' is in. -
creasing the number of bed care
and senile persons. The ,reason
given was thatwith the larger
old .age pension,;. as 'long as the
;pensioners. were able to look
after: themselves, they were kept
in , private harries, bldg • as soon
as • they were a • (burden. to look
after, they *ere promptly sent
to the County Horne
Best Plan They've Seen
Another thing we 'found •was.
the , heat problem from the boil-
er. in the basement in the
mer. time. 'On the strength;.of the
information we ;collected we in-
Struictea our architect, Mr. K.
:Cline, to dealer" a different type
'of • home. This , plan. was `drawn
in... the shapes of a cross, one wing
of this to connect into the •' ; old
home. This plan was designed'
with all bed patients on • •the top
floor. The nurses' station is loc-
ated, .the •;centre *of ; the : cross
where ;they -'would' have a view
of the . four, . halliways:$ This lay-
out would require three •nurses
on 8 -hour shifts; , Tale, Depart-
ment; has: since said this floor
plan:' is' the: best that'• has ever
been 'Submitted to their office:
and they have never made any
major changes on this : floor,
• As You. will realize; all rooms,
.corridors, washrooms : . and stor-
age facilities Must be built to a
standard ` size laid down .by .the
Department... Thus on the ground
floor 'we . have • a larger'. amount
of space :than . is normally -re
quired.•.;•However, '.this naturally,
raises the overall. price., In; Dec-
ember the Committee met the:
Department.:and proved to, them
from our visits to other homes,
thatthe boiler should be housed
in. ...a separate •building• Atter
some' hours' discussion ,this was
approved by the Department.;'
,Mr. Schaus raises. the question
of the 122 -bed plan. .
.Explains Extra Beds
On February 5, Mr. Alteon and
myself . were requested : to again
meet the. Department about some
minor ` changes in :,.:the : plan.: :At
this time the architect said „that
they • could not : fetch their price
in , line with ' what' the Depart
ment wiaa then asking and Mr
Ralston,° • chief architect for the
Departrnent of : Welfare,for ' the
Province of Ontario,` statd. "The
ohly .way y I •see you can, lower
your cost per bed, • is put amore
beds on the ground level floor."
This stateanent was made in the
presence of, three other witness;-
ea
itness-es besides myself 'and when'
Warden Joymt went down. Mr;
Balston accused' the architect of
submitting the '122 - bed plan
without permission from , any
body. This plan was; never sub-
mitted to the game C:oniimittee:
• At the November session I
brought in two reports re the
-County Home, . pages 39 and 40
of the 'November' minutes: These
reports were tabled,moved and
seconded and voted on, ' and
there was no question asked .and
no discussion. •
Members Got Copies of Report
On .January 22nd. I 'read the
County Horne report .which was
,mimeographed' *and a copy plac-
ed on every metnber's desk. Aft-
er readings . this report, which is
On page 80 of the' January .min-
utes, and giving' a. verbal report
on some facts which were over-
• ...•..r. tie,.,"
WEDNESDAY,; APRIL 22, 1959
rar�+�ld,Percy
11
•
looked in the printed report, at
the conclusion '1 asked, if there
were any questions, ,and, again
none, 11e, report was then %b-
led until the a f ternoon session on.
January 23 when the vote was.
taken, .There was little discuss-
ion and. few .questions asked.
This vote is not a trued vote on.
the County Horne as 'it was a
vote on an'ammendment, on an
•ammendrnent on the motion,
'Some of the men who „voted
against building' the wing, were
n 1 in : favor of building. ,strongly ,,.t.•
bu g the
home.
When You stop',and analyze
The plan and ' see the ,present
i,, ,
/'
�.,.f; t )sj{;Debenture
y.✓w.:'.•+.,}'v •E. fir,.:...
•
': for. 3, 4 an
'.i..
•
home with kitchen, dining room, ear 'a�ns in Safe tnvestent ! .
laundry and heating plant de
7
signed for 30 or 40 patients, what
would M'r, &haus have the com-
mittee do — run a staff in the
old •buildingand. another .in the
new? •
The plans are to close Out the
facilities in the .Old Home and
prpwde for..• all. this. in the new
wing; . Then when the.. Depart-
ment 'finally °losesand disman-
tles the old building, all. that'
will have ' to be:.'bult is an ad-
'd'ition for . `(bedrooms and wash
room facilities.' This wing of 00.
beds, replacing .,the old home, ac-
cording to the figurespresented
to the iConzanittee' on. -April 15th,
,would ' be: ' , just, a little'. under
$4,000 per bed;
• On April 15 your •Coinniittee
met with the architects and,
Department Jheads at. Toronto:
On again examining the :plane.
it:was agreed to place 'the boiler
in the basement, . to make the
basement smaller, to make. . the''
ground,,floor. smaller, and . •to do
someminor.. changes in placing
the . :different ''rooms, There will
:be, no change 'to the, upper :floor
which. twill; be as. in the original
'plan: One • entire • g
,win • of, this
.
building is to be parried , on pill:-
ars.
i11-ars: •
Approval Assured � .
1f these. changes are made' the
Deputy' Minister,: Mr. Ludlow,
and; ,: Mr. Ralston assured. our
Committee these plans vvotild be
approved .in ; their" entirety and
as soon : as approved; the 'work-
ing plans would be inspected and
when finished, to their satisfac-
tion, they :would` approve calling
for 'tenders: '
Surely a Man as smart as • iMr.
Schaus would' realize that the
Committee has ' had under coni-
sideration a 'wing of 103 :beds or
the entire building of approxim-
ately .163' lbeds"'•and . that the: es-
timate of $8,800.00 was merely
a• tentative figure „,subject 'to'
change of .plan onthe blue print,
The only. absolute • figure . will be
the one on • the ,tender that ' is
:awarded . - the contract Mr.
Schaus states that the; Municipal
council and the :weekly, press are
going 'to_.grab the glory of saving
.the County $200,000. This is ab-.
soltitely wrong as the Committee
and the Departnier t had, no in-
tention of calling for tenders un-
til. the plans were entirely -.sat-
isfactory to both . parties.
If Warden Joynt thinks that .I,
'as chairman, • or my :Committee
•were 1 x in our investigation or,
carrying out our duty •all he has
to do is ask for lily resignation
and I think, that of any Merciber
et this, Committee, and he will
get it ' in a 'hurry. Then, he could
.go up • to Chesley and. hire the
Editor` of the Chesley .Enterprise
,to coin down: and show us how
the County of Bruce should be
run.
Did Stir. Schaus ever come
down and make an ;inspection
tour of the present home? Did
he ever find out that in the ens•
tire hot e there is no such thing
as a built in bathtub or a showed
er? There is one old fashioned
tub on legs in the Superintend-
ent's apartment, and, imagine,
one old fashioned tin tub 'on
Wheeled'castors that is heeled' to the
patient's room,' There is no Wat-
er on tap in any rooms. The
water has to be carried to . the
tub and away. Did you, ever ,go.
to the Clerk's office', and ask to
i
Your money' is safely invested when you
purchase Debentures from• Huron & Erie
Canada Trust Issued in units of $100 or
more for 1 to 5 years, they're authorized by,.
Iaw as trustee investments and ma be cashed
at. ar' in the eventof the death of the holder.:
p •
43/4% for 1 and2 years
Plan • everystep with
HuroN &frie-Oanada Trust
•
HEAD ;OFFICE - LONDON, ONTARIO.:
DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES
Durnin Phillips, Dungannon; E.11. Agnew, Lucknow.
see the twice -yearly inspector's
report of around twenty page?
After his` report comes 'back the
Committee is ashamed to loolCat
it.. Half' the questions are spark
ed;nil or obsolete.
Regulations To Be Observed
Before I finish this letter I
Would' like to point out .to the
Chesley Council and • Mr. Schaus
the regulations pertaining to ad.-
mission to. the present home,. .in
reply to an... article .on '. page': one
PY
sof the saine issue of the Chesley
.Enterprise, under„ the . heading,
"Poor Service at••`Bruce County
Home.", .
Does Chesley have a law all
their' own or do they conform to,
the Provincial .:statutes? If any
of the Chesley officials will. go
to the trouble .of • looking •up the
minutes of the, June session, 195?
on: page 47 an48 they will find
these regulations .. The•Procedure
is that .all. applicants''for .'adgnis
cion to the `County, Homemust
fill out an '.application form t0 be
approved by the • ;County Home'
committee:. These forms. are
simple to • fill and Must be filled
completely,, part :by the doctor
and the :balance by the .clerk,,,or
other` official, and presented in
time 'to .be dealt with at a 'regu-
lar: meeting of the 'Home. Com-
mittee: In ,.case of emergency the
chairman 'has 'authority to admit
a patient if there is a vacancy,
and the ,patient passes a medical
. examination ;' •by . the County
Horne., doctor.. '
• At our March meeting two ap-
plications came from Chesley for
a man and wife. On • examining
the forrcns they were only .half
filled. out, •As this. was an .emer-
•gency we instructed the clerk of
the Horne . committee to phone
the :clerk of Chesley: and the
latter pleaded- ignorance' of ' the
Tact . that it was necessary. to
complete the forms and have
them signed. The Chesley clerk
was• informedthat the "forms
were .being, returned to him ~and•
on' being properly filled out we
would waive the month's .appli
cation • before admittance. But
when •they came to be examined
by the' County Horne physician
he found the woman to be quite
senile., and was so bad she was
sent to London immediately to
a mental institution. •
In the motion on page 48, in
this regard, it says that all anon
icipal'. clerks • be instructed to at-
tend a school to lee instructed in
the .
,proper° . completion of ' these
forms. Xn the present home we
have no accomodation for senile
patients or 'sick 'patients. This
home is supposed to be for en-
tirely ambulatory patient& The
new hone, 'when 'built, will
houseseven'tdifaferent classes .of
people=senile ; men and women; .
{bed -care men arid women, nor
.mal' care• men-. and women and
maimed, couples: .
'Gentlemen of the Press; -YOU
—
are Ian -long the leading citizens
of this great• ,county 'of, Bruce
and it is • what you' print i,,n your
papers that moulds' the thoughts
and. destiny :of; • the County. '.So,
gentlemen before writing any
More_ editorials, or news stories
.which: may be slanted . froth lack
of the facts, please give this your
most'. careful; thought.: _
Home Will Be Built,
The .hand writing is on the ti
walls 'and whether by the 1959
:Council or .:the 1965 Council, • a
new Thome will be 'built, There
has been a '• lot -of money. spent
and ' a _ tremendous amount of
work k and worry involved: ' 'to,
'date) We don't.. claim to have all
the answers'• but we have ' cap;
'italized ' on, the experience and
mistakes' of other county homes.
: Personally, • Mr. Sehaus, . I hope
this information is what you re-
quire ;and if you .:wouldlike to
drop around to my .house for
any further information, I' would
be glad . to try and get it for yeti. :: '
Yours truly,
HAROLD' PERCY,
Chairman .of County' Home Com:
NEW: :HAIL AT
KNTAI :OPENED
The Kintail .Conzmuriity Hall.,.
was officianie opened on 'April
10th with card party and box sec-"
ial. 'The winners at cards Were, .
high lady, Mrs.' Emile McLen-
nan; .ldw lady, Mrs. Wes: Brad:
nock; high man, Henry MacKen-
zie; low r anan, •Dari Wyld.
• ,...A short. program 'followed the ;
cards Those who took part were:
Florence : MelLennian; • Margaret
McLennan, ,Barbara MacLKenzae, :.
Mary Lou,, •Collinson .and Marion
McLennan:
Mrs. Wes Bradnock spoke a
few words and congratulated the
ladies of the Kintail W.I. on
their new hall:..: 'he Reeve, Cecil
Blake dedicated the former Kin -
tail School to .'be ' used as a new
community centre.
Emile McLennan auctioned the
boxes. 'M'rs. Wylds played for the
Queenafter which everyone en-
joyed
n-joyed their lunch. • . •
UNDERWENT SURGERY
Jim <D'Donnell 'vvho suffered, a
leg injury 21 years' ago, and
which has since given him much
trouble, underwent another op-
eration. in St, Joseph's , Hospital
on 'Saturday. The shin bone wa's
scraped and skin grafting done,
OCI
.Wm.
tario, ` tv
iVlr• . and
• Donna
their to
hoar Iia
'Mr. a
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vacation
da.
Bill .�
ranger':c
was''.a r�
his .pare
Ritchie.
Mr.: a
ley': of I
eral :'or
Cranston
Eleanc
of Mr.
Holyroo,
day' at
'plantat
'Mrs.
and Mr.
and 'far
over the
of: Mr.
and oth
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