HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-10-30, Page 1BEST AUL ROUND COMMUNITY
NEWSPAPER IN CANADA
(Circulation Class under 2200)
C.C.N.A, Better Newspaper Competition 1985
Hospital board approves quality appraisal committee
By Henry Hess
. After mulling it over for six months --
and despitethe continued misgivings of
some board members -- the board of gover-
nors at the Wingham and District Hospital
has approved setting up a committee to
monitor the performance of the various.
departments at the hospital.
The board voted nearly unanimously last,
week to establish a quality appraisal com-
mittee, as recommended last spring by the
board's joint. conference committee.
However the decision did not come
easily as several board me}nbers continued
to express doubts about whether the
structure of the new committee, .which will
consist of hospital staff and one doctor, will
enable 'it to be an adequate watchdog.
It : also was opposed strongly by a
member of • the medical staff, who
suggested the whole thing would be little
more than an expensive exercise in paper-
work, duplicating the duties of the
executive director.
"I don't see this adding anythingnew
except cost," Dr. J. K. McGregor
objected.
Earlier he had described the proposal as
"a monstrous exercise in paperwork" and
"a very large step toward bureaucratizing
the (hospital),"
On the other side, Executive Director
Norman Hayes arguedthat the hospital has
no choice but to create the committee if it
wants to maintain its standing in the health
field.
"We're between a rock and a hard place
on this," he told the board. "Unless the
(quality appraisal) procedure is in place
and working we won't get accredited."
The proposal for a quality appraisal
committee first came to the board back in
April together with a "mission statement"
setting out goals and objectives for the
hospital. The board was told the committee
would monitor how well the hospital is
meeting its objectives.
It also was emphasized .thecommittee
would only make internal recommenda-
tions and would have no "teeth".
However some board members expres-
sed concern . that since the committee
would. have no means of reporting directly
to the board, its concerns and recommen-
dations could be sidetracked without the
board ever hearingabout them. After ,a.
lengthy discussion at the May meeting
again ' failed to satisfy the doubts, the
matter was sent back to the joint confer-
ence committee for re-evaluation.
It surfaced last week' ' with Jenny
Cummings, director of physiotherapy and
head of the steering committee on quality
appraisal, appearing before the board. to
urge speedy approval of the appraisal
committee. It must be in place and func-
tioning before the hospital again comes up
for accreditation in March of 1987, she.
emphasized.
Cummings gave the board a pep talk on
quality appraisal and described the work-
ing of the proposed committee. Depart -
The Lucknow and District Fire Department was called to a barn fire broken gasline, on a, small tractor is believed to - e e cause
near.Dungannon twice on Oct. 26: The barn and its contents, owned large blaze. , . • [James Friel .photol
by Laverne Martin of RR 1 Dungannon, were valued at $110,000.•A,,
ment' heads are documented to make
people accountable.
The committee would also provide rein-
forcement for staff who are doing a good
job, make recommendations and provide
follow-up to make sure the recommenda-
tions are 'carried. out. Quality care is the
ultimate objective, she said, and this can
be measured.
"What I'd like you guys to do tonight is
approve the quality appraisal program in
principle," she told the board, noting there
is a lot of work involved In getting the
program into full operation before thenext
accreditation survey. ,
' Asked by 'Hayes about' the committee
structure and the proposal to place a board
member on it, Cummings said the
consensus. at a meeting she Thad attended
was that there is no need ,to have a board
member on ' the committee since it is
basically a management committee and
would report to the board through the joint
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'1/
F�uryear
old area girl
in critical
condition,
A four year old Lucknow area girl is in
critical condition in a London hospital after
she strayed and fell intothe holding tank of
a' chicken cleaning operation.
According to Lucknow and District Fire
Chief Bud Hamilton, Adria Graham, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd. Graham of
R. R. 1 Lucknow, fell into the holding tank
owned by . Roger Cuillerier of R. R. 3, .
Holyrood just before the fire. department
received the call at 9.35 on Oct. 26.
"When we arrived at the scene they had
just gotten her out of the tank," said the
chief. "We did CPR on her . until the
ambulance arrived."
, The girl was first taken to Kincardine
and District General Hospital and later '
transferred to London.
firemen were treated at, the hospital
after the emergency, receiving ,, shots' for
diptheria, tetanus and polio.
Retired man helps bluebirds survive extinction
Bill Henderson has always been
something of'a birdwatcher. His fishing
trips are as much to see the various
birds not common around town as to get,
some fishing in. So it's not surprising
the retired minister has built "around
300" nesting boxes for, the declining.
numbers of the bluebird, and 'has set
them up all around the area to help the
little avian, in its fierce, competition for
nesting sites.
Bi11 was born and raised in tucknow
and left the . village to go to University.
He became a Presbyterian minister and
for 45 years worked for the church.
His Iasi charge was in Woodstock. He
had been there for 20 years and when he
retired, he and his wife Peggy searched
for home to retire to, adhering to a
church rule stating thata minister can't
retire in the same community he or she
has just worked in.
A search for a home throughout the
area, including Cambridge, Kitchener
and Listowel "turned up the house on
Hay Street in the home town.
Once here, Bill recalled that as a boy
he often saw bluebirds while walking
down the railroad tracks now being
ripped up.
"I realized I hadn't seen a'bluebird
for years," he said and he made the
discovery that bluebirds are 90 per cent
extinct and have been placed on the
endangered species list in ;the United
States.
"1 put up boxes and I was fortunate
enough to attract one pair so I kept is
up." Now there are about 300 boxes in
an approximately 35 square mile zone
around the village.
His work has had some good results.
"They're coming back'Lince the boxes
have been put up. They are losing the
competition for, rests."
He builds the boxes with scrap wood.
"I'm m a great scrounger. I pick up scraps
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