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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1974-10-31, Page 16Rock,' Racoon NOTICE OF NOMINATION Nominations of Separate School Supporters for Representation on the ' HURON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION will be received by the undersigned Commencing on Thursday, November 1 and until 5 P.M., E.S.L, on Tuesday, November 12, 1914 Nominees must be' a Separate School supporter and may be from any municipality within the County of Huron. (One Representative to be elected) W. t. HORNER Clerl., Hay Township Zurich, Ontario Open the savings account that earns 91 /4% and lets you write cheques. • Interest calculated on minimum monthly balance • Guaranteed by the Province of Ontario Ontario The Province of Ontario Savings Office M'i'nistry , or Revenue MAIN STREET SEAFORTH, ONTARIO 527-0210 Premier, A,S,MadOonitid, Manager Arthur Meek Minikiet destroying a tree o trees can be periodically cropped due to differences in age, classes, thinnings and in- termediate cuts o the shading of some species by others must be considered, as requirements for sunlight and moisture may not be met for trees closer to the forest floor • individual trees are usually classified on the basis of tree diameter measured to about 4 1/2 feet above ground, These ratings are - seedling (less than 1"), sapling (1" - 4"), pole 5" - 9"), small sawlog (10" - 14"), medium sawlog (15" - 19" and large sawlog (20" - larger) If you would like more infor- mation concerning woodlots and woodlot management, just ask at the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority office at Box 5, Wroxeter. FRI. NOV. 8 11 - 7 P.M.• SATURDAY NOV. 9 10 A.M. TO 5:30 P.M. COMING!!! FREE YOUR CHILD'S PORTRAIT AGIFTTOYOU FROM CORRIE'S RED & WHITE CLINTON PAGE 4—CLINTON NEWS-RECORD, THURSDAY, OQT013RR 31, 1974 Summary of the Mustard Report We are small in population numbers. A physician may not come into an area to practice unless there is a vacancy in the quota system for the area, If he decides to come into the area and practice regardless of the openings, he will not be suppor- ted by O.H.I.P., and this is stated clearly in the Mustard Report. "No 0,H,I,P, payments for a physician who practices outside of the quota system and where there is no vacancy available the area," Another important im- plication of the Area Health.. Services Management Board is in regard to our hospitals. The Minister of Health, at a meeting of the Ontario Hospital Association in Sault Ste, Marie in September of 1974, stated that the optimum size for a hospital to operate efficiently was , 300 beds, and that we should aim for this figure. This, of course, has great importanTe to Huron County where we have five municipal hospitals with a total of a little over 400 beds and concluding from the Minister's remarks, we would --have to say that in Huron County, we would be left with one 300 bed hospital at the most. From this, we see that the five municipal hoSpitals are going to have to reduce in num- ber, and the iniplication is that some of these hospitals will in- deed be closed. Another sad thing about the hospitals is the dissolution of the hospital boards. Over the years, hospital board members have been a dedicated and in- terested group, have given many hours of service to the community hospitals to develop them and make them a great service to our community. It has even been noted that over the years many of the com- munity hospitals have been en- dowed; from former voluntary hospital board members. ' In- deed, .some of the larger city hospitals have had generous endowments from former board members. Again, this voluntary effort has not only built our hospitals and made them what they are today but in some cases, it even led to financial support through endowment af- ter death. This appears to be totally forgotten, and this will certainly. pass if the Mustard Report 'is implethented. BY DR. FRANK MILLS HURON COUNTY MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEARTH The Mustard Report is a report of •the Health Planning Task Force, a group headed by Dr. J.F. Mustard, This group was appointed in late 1972 to do a comprehensive study of the health care delivery system in Ontario particularly in regard to the re-organization plan of the Ministry of Health that had been presented early in 1970, The Mustard Report is totally destructive of the health care delivery system as it presently exists in Ontario. It is modeled on the National Health Service of Great Britain, and it is far more restrictive to patient and physician than the National Health Service of Great Britain, The Mustard Report hinges on the establishment of three distinct segments of health care: 1. Community Health Centres 2. District Health Councils 3. Area Health Services Management Board COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE First is the Comthunity Health Centre which is a facility built on a population basis of one for every 15,000 people, i.e„ in Huron County with a population of 52,000, there would be three Com- munity Health Centres located in geographically central positions. All medical care will be given through the Com- munity Health Centres. Community Health Centres will house all the health professionals in the area, that is, physicians, nurses, social workers, family counsellors, public health nurses, dentists, etc. At a Community Health Centre, a sick person will first have to deal with an inter- mediary person who will decide whether they need to see a doc- tor, a nurse, or any of the people listed above. (This barrier to physician-patient relation has never been found in Canada before and is unac- ceptable to the general public most of whom feel that once they have made up their mind to visit a physician, they would be annoyed to be channeled to another health professional without choice.) Community Health Centres must be built by local funding according to information from the Ministry of Health over the past two years. The formation, of Community Health Centres involves the development of a public transportation system for the Health Centre which again must be developed and funded locally, but as indicated in the Mustard Report, free transportation must be provided to the Community Health Centres. DISTRICT HEALTH COUNCIL The second main segment is the formation of the District Health Council. (In 1972 the original re-organization plan of the Ministry of Health in- dicated that a District Health Council would be required and that it would be composed of representatives from the health profession; a physician, a nurse, a hospital representative, a dental representative, each one of the health professions, and an equal number of interested consumers. These together would make up a District Health Council with the intent of co-ordinating and integrating health services within the area they serve.) However, the Mustard Report has revamped the Health Council, has removed any health prOfessional member- ship on it, and simply states that the District Health Coun- cil would be appointed by statute composed of ten mem- bers, who must have no relation to the health professions and no health professional background. Independent Shipper to United Co-operative of Ontario Livestock Dept Toronto Ship Your Livestock with Roy Scotchmor Monday Is Shipping Day From Varna Stockyard CALL MAYFIELD 505-2636 Sy 7:30 a.m. Monday For Prompt Service No Chstgato on Pick-up The District Health Council which has been suggested for Huron County would include Huron, Perth,. Oxford, Elgin, Middlesex and London with, a total population of 550,000, and as can easily be seen the possibility of a voice from Huron being heard in such a large 'population area is remote. The District Health Council is a very important part of the plan, It is advisory to the Minister and the Ministry. It must meet. with all voluntary, agencies and work with all social and community service agencies. It is required to form the following committees: 1. A District Health SeiVices Advisory Committee 2. A District Primary Care Committee and a District Primary Care Advisory Corn- mittee 3. A District Secondary Care Committee and a District Secondary Care Advisory Com- mittee 4. A District Committee on Diagnostic Services 5. An Area Health Services Advisory Committee 6, A Planning Committee 7. A Facilities Committee 8. An Education Committee ' 9. A Community Relations Committee One must bear in mind that all of these committees the District Health Council are purely voluntary, (without pay) must meet regularly and often involve the members of the health manpower teams. A committee structure such as this is almost impossible, not only because of the difficulty of finding people to serve volun- tarily on these committees, but also because of the number of meetings that must be held by these committees secondary to the District Health Council. It has been computed that in Ontario the committee Struc- ture as stated would required 4,800 voluntary workers plus an additional 200 paid positions of secretarial and ad- ministrative to operate these committee structures. This is not in keeping with any at- tempt to reduce health care costs which was the original in- tent of the re-organization plan, We must also deal with another very important part of the District Health Council and- that is; it is directed to form an Area Health Services Management Board which will be discussed in the next item. MANAGEMENT BOARD The third segment then in- volved in the Mustard Report is the Area Health Services Management Board. This is a very• powerful body which will operate either one or a number of institutions depending 'on the size and the population. The Area Health Services Management Board will replace all existing hospital boards and may have represen- tation from the existing hospital boards but does not have to. It again is appointed through the Minister's office. The Area Health Services Management Board not only will operate the hospitals in the area, but will also decide on the number of physicians present in the area and sur- veillance on the quota system for physicians within the area. This is something that we must think of also, that there will be a quota system for physicians for our area as with all areas; that the number will be preset on a population basis as yet to be determined; that we may face a reduction of physicians on a population base, because although we are large in area, transportation system to the Community Health Centres, the cost of operating the tremendous committee struc- ture with 4,800 volunteers and 200 additional civil service positions. There is no doubt that the taxpayer will suffer, that there will indeed be a tremendous increase in the cost of the new health care delivery system as presented in the Mustard Report, DANGERS TO THE HOSPITALS I must again state that there is every indication that, there will be indeed fewer hospitals, that hospitals must be of a 300 bed size, that there will be one ap- pointed board for several hospitals, that is the Area Health Services Management Board, that there will be only special services of a limited type in the community hospital that is allowed to remain, and that most of the more specialized services will have to be obtained in the catchment area of the large London health area. For any detailed special service, 1 think it ,is implied and can be concluded, that we will indeed be required to go to our catchment area, that is to the London University Centre. In the hospitals also, the danger is the lack of the volun- tary organizations. There was strong objection registered from the Women's Auxiliary of the Goderich Hospital at the time of the County Council discussion of the Mustard Report indicating that the Women's Auxiliary over the years had gone out of their way, put much effort into raising funds to buy' necessary equipment for the hospital and to furnish the hospital and that this type of voluntary work should not have been overlooked and cannot be ex- pected to be continued when it becomes strictly a governmen- tal hospital, At a recent meeting of District No. 2 of the Hospital Auxiliaries of Ontario, it was pointed out that in the past. year 8148,000.00 had been raised by the member auxiliaries to buy equipment and furnishings for the hospitals in the areas they serve. This is only one year of many that they have been in existence and operation and fund raising. PROFESSIONAL DANGERS As a professional myself, I must speak for my colleagues and say that it is obvious that there will he a set number of doctors and health professionals for any area, and that there would be no O.H.I.P. payment for a doctor who decides to come into the area when there is no vacancy on the quota system. I am personally concerned too, as a physician, with the dissolution of the doctor- patient relation, that a barrier will be erected to patient- doctor relation and that it 'will become most unacceptable with first of all the patient being filtered out by an intermediary to say whether he may or may not see the doctor and the doc- tor al:4o being filtered out from the patient by an intermediary who determines whether the doctor should or should not see the patient. We must remember also that in the Community Health Cen- tre set-up, that the Health Cen- tre must he staffed twenty-four hours a day with all health professionals and that, therefore, doctors will he on shift ToxIt 94-1 ,that the possibi Ittk,; seeing his favOrite physician at the time that he is ill is remote on sheer mathematical probability of the patient being ill when the doctor is on duty or on his particular shift at the, Health Centre. Another professional danger is the demoralizing effect that this total repOrt has had on hospital staff and on all health professionals by making them feel that. they are no longer needed as personally interested professionals looking after a patient's welfare, but rather only as push-button pawns to do a specific technical job and show no interest or personal concern for the health con- sumer. POLITICAL DANGERS The loss of local control of our health services to a more distant body as implied in the District Health Council for the area encompassing the five counties and involving the tremendous centre of population and specialized health care in the university area of London, • A political person must. he concerned and is concerned that there would he in prac- ticality no way that we would have a voice on the Health Council when we are only 50,000 people in a total population of 550,000. We • would be overwhelmed and soon forgotten. WHAT TO DO Many have said to me, "What can we do," when they have read the report and I think everyone should avail themselves with a copy of the report and read it, (although it is heavy reading and tends to give you a strong feeling of sleepiness) bear with it, and as you read through it you will find the points I have outlined above to be as stated. If you conclude, as I have concluded, that this proposed health care delivery system is a disaster to health care in On- tario and as many have won- dered what can a person do, I certainly would urge you to sit down and write a letter of rejection to the Minister of Health, to your local M.P.P.s' and to the premier of Ontario. Letters of objection, letters of rejection and letters of concern must be sent as soon as possible if there is to be any hope of stopping the implementation of this; report' fas....preseV ted -- I have' noted that when the occasional person has objected, he has -received a watered- down reassurance re. the Mustard Report, such as, "Well we wouldn't use all of it, we will just use parts of it", but I would like to point out that Dr. Mustard himself has stated that there can he no small part of the Mustard Report omitted. It hinges together. It must he all or nothing and certainly with what we have in Ontario today in our health care delivery system, it is my feeling that we do not need the Mustard Report. We do not need to add un- necessary costs to health care and if one really is interested in developing efficiency in the health care system, then they should start. at the community level and find out from the people who are the consumers of health care and the physicians and nurses whO are the people giving the health care what can be done. To im- pose a major re-organization plan without practical ex- perience and knowledge of health care as it actually is at the consumer level is an im- possibility and the Mustard Report certainly demonstrates this in its conclusion and recommendations. Rocky Raccoon has a few more facts about the woodlot and its management, which he would like to share with you. The ideal woodlot would contain a variety of valuable species capable of a continual output of valuable products, both economic and aesthetic. This would requite a crop of healthy trees at every stage of development from seedling to maturity. As already mentioned, to ob- tain full benefits from your woodlot, it is important to protect it from fire, grazing, in- sects, disease and rodents. Some other important facts you should remember are: • trees are a crop which comes to maturity, declines in value then dies • natural seeding and restocking will occur if the area is protected from fire and , livestock • woodlots without young growth will die out 4 a tree will require more space for crown and roots as it gets older, and so will crowd out other trees • thinning is to concentrate production of wood on more valuable trees • various tree species differ in their soil, moisture and light requirements • it takes 60-120 years to grow a tree to maturity, this should be realized before unwittingly Three mobile homes a day are being constructed by Bendix Home Systems Ltd, at Hensel! for the new mobile-home retirement park, Grand Cove Estates, near Grand Bend. While construc- tion of conventional homes is lagging, mobile-home parks are doing well. Grand Cove Estates will have 296 units in its initial phase, Four mobile homes are on display at the park. Residents buy the home and rent the land, DANGERS Now in speaking to many groups recently and trying to give them some idea, some un- derstanding of the Mustdrd Report, something that they can so-to-speak, "pin down" in their own mind, I have come up with a number of dangers in the Mustard Report that will he actualities if the Mustard Report is, implemented. The dangers can be divided into: 1. Consumer Dangers , 2. Hospital Dangers 3, Professional Dangers 4. Political Dangers CONSUMER DANGERS The consumer overall will have a low-quality health care system. The implications of the Mustard Report would indicate there will be fewer doctors for the areas, there will be fewer hospitals for the areas, there will be distance to travel to medical care and the type of health care that you receive will be determined by an inter- mediary person of non- professional standing. Consumer dangers also must include the tremendous in- crease in costs; the obvious costs being the cost of building Community Health Centres, the cost of developing a free