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THE CITIZEN,THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9,2004.PAGE 7.
net into passion for writing • A. • •• Woman channels
Special place
Patty Banks with her son Geoffrey's dog Nipper sits in the special garden she created as a
tribute to Geoffrey who was killed in 2002. The Walton-area woman channeled her grief into
poetry, two examples of which were recently published in a bereavement magazine. (Bonnie
Gropp photo)
The Huron Perth Healthcare
Alliance is in the process of
reviewing a variety of options to
deal with a projected $7 million
deficit over the next two years.
"As is the case for all hospitals in
Ontario, we will be required, within
the next four to six weeks, to present
a plan for a balanced budget to the
Ministry of Health and Long Term
Care," said alliance board chair Ron
Bolton. "Our challenge will be to
find ways to dramatically cut costs
while maintaining access to high
levels of care for the communities
we serve."
The alliance's projected $7
million deficit is a result of
significant cost pressures in areas
such as utilities, drugs and labour.
Alliance CEO Andrew Williams
notes that the problem is
compounded by the fact that
government funding for the alliance
is lower this year than last year —
due to one-time funding provided in
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2003/04 that will not be matched in
2004/05.
"While we have been assessing
the impact of moving 33 complex
continuing care and rehabilitation
beds from the Stratford side to our
Seaforth and St. Marys sites, we are
also looking at other options for
these services," Williams said. "No
decisions have been made at this
point. We will ensure that the
concerns raised by members of our
communities are included in the
assessment."
He emphasized that the alliance's
budget cannot be balanced without
significant change, including the
movement of services among
hospital sites and the outright
reduction of programs and services.
"It just isn't possible to cut close to
10 per cent of our operating costs
without some pretty dramatic
changes to the way we provide
care."
- Bolton noted that the four-hospital
alliance is committed to keeping all
the sites operating and to finding
cost efficiencies. "That doesn't
mean we can maintain the status
quo. It would be nice, but it simply
can't be done."
The formation of the alliance did
result in savings in the first year of
its operations. By eliminating
duplication and combining support
services such as finance, human
resources and information
technology, the alliance saved
nearly $300,000 over what would
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
Geoffrey Banks was just a few
weeks shy of his 17th birthday on
Aug. 19, 2002.
His mother patty had prepared his
supper that night, and was waiting
for. him to return. What happened
instead is every parent's nightmare.
Coming home on an ATV, the
youth went through an intersection
and collided with a pickup. He was
pronounced dead on the scene.
In the two years since, Patty has in
`poetic prose' paid tribute to her son,
and delved into the grief his loss has
meant. "Even when I was little when
anything heavy happened I would
write."
The night of her child's death was
no exception."I remember going
into his room the night he died.
because I wanted to write stuff
about how T. feeling."
The poem was then left forgotten
for a time until Banks discovered it
some five months later. "I looked at
it again and thought, 'Hey, that's not
all that bad.'"
That revelation opened the
floodgates and her creativity flowed.
"I started writing, every day, another
piece. Just things that came to my
mind, things that had happened.
Welcome Son was my memories of
his birth. The Wake, was, well. And
Useless God is how I felt about all of
that."
The experience had tested Banks'
faith. "In the previous five years I
had been looking differently at my
belief. This clinched it even more
about who I thought God was and
who he should have been."
The 'book' also contains letters
have been spent under the previous
hospital partnership. Bolton said the
alliance will engage in community
consultation before the board
finalizes the details of the plan to
present to the government.
and thoughts of Geoffrey's friends
and a teacher.
Next Banks would like to see her
book published. "It is," she
laughed," one of the most read
unpublished books I know of. It's
been all over the place," talking
about the support of the community.
She has begun making inquiries
and has received advice from other
writers, one of which she met in a
group. "It's neat how people come
into your life. This woman, her son
was killed 10 years ago in a
motorcycle accident. Sl4 saw my
work and said how similar the
feelings were to her own."
One of the biggest challenges
Banks has discovered is that most
publishers won't accept work from
unpublished writers. She did,
however, through the internet submit
two of her poems to i.Vi;ig and Loss
with %.3Cri•avement- A Magazine of
Hope and Healing. They chose both
for publication.
Since then she continues to seek
ways to improve her work and to get
it published as a book. "I have
promised Geoffrey I would take this
to the end."
Regardless of what happens next,
Banks knows the book as been
successful on one level at least.
"Some people drink or do drugs to
escape. For me, putting this on paper
really saved me. It was a way to
empty."
"Before this happened I would
think about other parents and
wonder how they could cope. This
book is kind of the answer to that. "
Banks said life's uncertainty can
often be fearful now. "This
happened so easily. It's always in the
back of my mind, that if it could
happen the first time it could happen
again."
"But with all these fears, you're
not alone. I think that's partly too
why I wrote the book. It's a reminder
that we share our fears and anxieties
with others."
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Alliance looks at option to reduce deficit
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