HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1997-10-08, Page 1•
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VOL. 130 WK. 41
Wingham hospital news
Scaled-down clinic
WEDNESDAY,'OCTOEER 8, 1997
65' INCLUDES G.S.T.
given the go.mahead
by Margaret .Stapleton
The Huron -Perth District Health Council has
approved a proposal from Wingham and District
Hospital to construct a medical clinic adjacent to the
hospital, which .also would incorporate unused space
within the hospital itself. The proposal now goes, back to
the provincial. health ministry for its consideration.
.Lloyd Koch, executive`director of Wingham and
District•Hospital, confirmed that the DHC approved the
'proposal. He said he is hopeful that the ministry will
approve the project by later this fall: ,
'Also Huron MPP Helen Johns recently announced
that • Wingham, has been .declared an "under -serviced
area for physicians, which will allow'represe iftatives 'of •
•Wingham and District Hospital access to doctor -recruit=''
mens tours arqss the province until two physicians have
been recruited to Wingham"
Koch 'says he believes bgth. developments the DHC
'nod and Johns' annoupcernent L finally will put the
.wheels in motion for solution in Wingham's long quest
to recruit more: doctors A :Medical' clinic is considered
crucial to attracting physicians, as the modern trend is •
' to*ard group practices.
At earlier proposal to constriic(a $il .xuillion clinic
has been cut by one-half to $500,000. The clinic would
be adjacent and connected to the hospital and some
Unused space within the. hospital. •building would be•
incorporated. Tentative plans include the .demolition of
the former nursing assistants'training centre and a near
by residence:
Evefi though .the hospital; is funding the project ,solely
with its own money, recent.legislatiorl required it to
apply to the health iministry for approval. I,t did sti earls
er this summer, but the request was referred to the DHC. ,
Huron County council ;
ers not im
r
by Blake Patterson.
The result of .an
$1$:000 roads study failed:
'to impress rne;rnbers o:f •
..Huron County Conrici1
'Oct. 2:
CSL lnfrastructure'
Management was hired in
July •to study' the county:.
roads system and •present
cost-saving options. On
Oct: 2, CS1y consultant
Hans Muntz presented the.
findings of the study and
recommended the county
privatize its road system
and hire a company like
CSI., to :coordinate servic-
, nig.
Several xnenbers
county council:were not
pleased.
Reeve Brian McBurney
of. Tnrnberry Township
.accused' Muntz and' his
company of "carpet bag-
inga Wehrmann greeted visitors to the Huron Game Farm, operated by
Elke and Henry and Harro and , Anke . Wehrmann, in Ashfield Township,
on Sunday. The wild boarfarm was one of the stops along the route
planned by Chamber of Commerce for this year's annual EXpkore. the
County Tour It was: a great day for farmers and non -farmers to check
out various types of agricultural set ups and sample their'. products,.
(Helm photo)
C • staff at the Sentinel .
will, enjoy .the
Thaaksgving, holiday
with their farniles too
aidcsgivitig
v
Please note the dead
line for next week's paper
is Friday,at'noon. •:.,
Have a safe holiday,
ging":in an attempt to take
advantage of the ,present
uncertainties surrotrnding•
proyincial. funding.,He.
said the suggestion to pri-
vatize road service. may by
a good idea, for some
places,,but flatly predicted
it would not work in.
:.Huron County.
Muntz said privatizing
could save the county as
much•'as $38 -million, but
Reeve Mason 'Bailey of
Blyth said the projected
savings rely on ass stip '
tions Which do not ipply
to Huron County: ,,
Ile said the savings..
assume the county will
have . no problems settling
the severance claims of
laid -off .employees, that
the general public doesn't
care if their roads a`re.
cleared befdre breakfast,
ressed
s study
that Huron County will.
never ..have ' blizzards
which require ;'on site'
:staff and that the count's
can dispose of surplus
roads facilities at:a fair -
market value.
He said the savings also
assume; lower tier thunici- '•
palities;will never become
more , efficient under
growing. , . funding
restraints. • .
'I think you'll see local,
councils are going to be
'better managers,," said
:Bailey. •
`.Reeve Bill Carnochan
agreed :with Bailey. He,
• noted existing municipal.
road crews do .much more
than clear roads, and when
things like ,park. mainte-
nance are factored. into the
equation, Mti'ntz's savings
*see 'Report*'page 3
•:A
• Tocley
number' ._
steady
The Lucknow ,Minor.
Hockey Association is
preparing for the upcom-
king season having held its
annual registration period
recently. According . to.
recreation director Dave
Black, registration, num-
bers have held steady this
year at 226 after a 10 per
cent drop the previous
' year. Registration. fees
were kept the same as last
year b}i the Lucknbw and
District Joint Recreation
:Board. .
:The girls hockey pro-.
gram is in jeopardy 'again
this year because of low
registration nwnbers. Only
nine girls have registered
to date and more areneed-
ed to ice a team. Last year,
a merger with. Wingham
allowed a".team to be
formed with .games and
practices split between .the
:two centres";Tire Lucknow
Minor "Hockey
Associationwould prefer
to be able to form '.a team
inLucknow..
• This . year the Western
•See `Two' page: .11
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NPD job losses hit building
main:�en�.nc� sta�'f the hardest
by Bev: Fry
Building maintenance
staff at the Bruce Nuclear
Power Development;
(BNPE.1 appears'to'be. the
worst off in termsjab
'losses in Ontario Hydro's
site staffing requirements.
Two hundred and • eighty
five jobs .willbe gone by
1998.
Ontario" Hydro released
its ,preliminary :estimates
on staff •positions at the
BNPD last Wednesday,
Management staff
appears to be the least.
affected: •
Ina.Hydro staff 'posi-
tions by job Category
chart, there are. 23 execu
tive salaried • (ESRI`.
employees at the .BNPD.
According 'to : the chart,'
next year, there will be 37.
'ESR employees. The
number drops to 24 by,
2002. According to anoth-.
er preliminary .estimate
-chart; there will be 'a
'shortfalt of. 50 ESR'
employees. next ,year,
across.,Ontari.o Hydro's.
head: office, Pickering and,
Darlington: nuclear plants..,
'That number falls` to a
shortfall of 47 by 2002"
There are. currently 614
civil maintainers (buil
ing-iinaintenance), which.
includes soft trades like
handy persons, painters,
cleaners,`.stock keepers,
• employed at the BN.1?D.
That number willdrop,to.
329 by 199S and is pro-
jected todrop' to 292 by
2002.
There will be a shortfall
of seven civil maintainers
across Ontario Hydro's. "
head office and
Darlington and Pickering •
generating stations 'in
.1998`. That shortfall is
'expected to rise to 132 by
2002
Ron Dugas, site.
spokesman for .the Power
Workers Union, wondered
of what use it was to tell
people there will be a' cut.:
in the number of jobs
without .a. formalized
work program.
`"There is nolink saying
we need 80 mechanics to
do . this job, .or 95 control
techs;`to do another job.
I'm extremely disappoint-
ed in their;inability: to
make that link.. They are
niaking cuts according to
budget.,,
�• Dugas said. :there has;
been, no consultation with
the PWU on how to best
minimize' the pain to
affected 'wo'rkers 'or the
co nmunities surrounding
the BNPD. •
"They are not utilizing
the skills of .people here
''see 'Murphy' •.pag 6
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