The Huron Expositor, 1996-12-04, Page 5THE HURON EXPOSITOR, D•c.m or 4, 11196--5
Three reactions to New York - noisy city 1 silenced
DHC task force study:
1) Smells fishy
Dear Editor:
Something is starting to
smell fishy and it's the Hur
Perth District • Heal
-Council's . Hospital ancf'
Related Services -Task Force
Report:
The Health Council wants
the public' to review only
their three options presented
in the report. The process
used. to arrive at their three
options is also important -and
worthy- of review. if the
process is flawed, then the_
results of that process are'
tainted: •
1 urge your paper to publish
.the report in its entirety. (It's
only 12 typewritten pages).
Let's have the people who
will he affected significantly
by this report have a chance
to sec the content and quality
of the report that is .already
affecting their lives in a sig-
nificant way.
The Health Council won't
defend their report and i
wouldn't want to have to
fend it either. They only
to "discuss" their three
s. Very little informa-
ti is publicly available
about how the three options
were selected: however, one
member of the task force has
broken •the silence and indi-
cated that in the process each
task force member was given
three blue dots and they were
asked to place their dots on
the options they would like to
see. Rumor has it there were
nine options from which to -
select.
The future healthcare sys-
tem for Huron Perth has been
designed by 60 (plus or
minus) blue dots. Is this a
credible way to plan the
future of health care for your
community?
Art Clark
Wingham
2) Thoughtful first step
Dear Editor:
i am writing in respimse to
the letter hy Mr. Ralph Smith
regarding the DHC study.
Rather than "Imlicrous and
outrageous hunll¢, I feel the
I$IC study, as developed by-
tttp- Program Task Force for
thttlleering Committee. was
a thoughtful first step in
restructuring our hospital sys-
tem in Huron and Perth
Counties.
i was one of many volun-'
tecrs who sat through four
meetings (12 hours total) in
which we discussed the pre-
sent system and potential,
' changes 'necessary, given the
120% cut to hospital funding. I
will
adthit that 1 'was ,skepti-
cal at first hut,having been
through the process i feel that
my voice was indeed heard. t
will add, that many staff
members from our hospital,
including nurses, lab techni=
cian.s and administrators were
involved in the discussions.
We all attended meetings in a
compromising mood, know-
ing that Seaforth Hospital
may need to lose some ser-
vices so that the'overall ser-
vice to the counties would he
preserved.
O'bviously..wc must have
impressed the Steering
Committee because we were•
the only small hospital to
appear on all. three options.
For those of us who have'
worked hard to ireprove the
delivery of medical care in
Seaforth over the past five
years. this came as no sur-
prise. Since 1990. the total
number of physicians has
risen to nine (tour of whom
arc female). There has been
the addition of midwifery
services at Seaforth Hospital
(the only hospital in Huron -
Perth to provide this).
Furthermore. we have totally
reorganized our hospital into
Care Teams which involve
not only hospital members
hut also community
providers and consumers. We
have moved to •a client cen-
tered model which ultimately
will improve our cooperation
with long term care facilities
and home care providers.
As for sacrifice, we all
make sacrifices. Our CEO
has spent a tremendous
amount of time devoted' to
this study knowing that in the
end, his job may not even
exist in its present form. Dr.
K. Rodney has been one of
the many physicians who has
spent his practice years trav-
elling around Huron and
Perth Counties. sometimes at
a moment's notice, to help
deliver surgical care to its
residents. Then there are the
many nurses, technical staff,
health care aides and admin-
istrators who devote a large
amount of time to work in the
hospitals and, community. It
is these people (many of
whom may actually lose their
jobs), that people should feel
sympathy for, not for physi-
cians who ultimately can
move to another locale and
start another practice.
In closing, 1 would like to
emphasize to the people of
Seaforth and other communi-
ties that we serve; that this
process is a necessary one
and from my point of view,
more than fair. Ultimately. by
downsizing the hospital care.
it is hoped that monies can be
shifted to the long term care
facilities and home care ser-
vice providers. Both of these
have been underfunded for
years and in fairness, this is
where our money should be .
directed. -
i urge you .all to attend the
meeting tonight (Wednesday)
and show support for this
process and applaud the -peo-
ple who have been dedicating
their time to make it happen.
M. Woldnik, M.D.
Hope government will fund
CONTINUED from page 4
independent schools can pro-
vide a healthy competition to
• the public school system.
I personally continue to be
very hopeful that our provin-
cial legislators will sec the
value of supporting 'commu-
nity based parental schools'
that are dedicated to Christian
values. and to the • process of
preparing children for citizen-
ship and for Christian service
in their communities and in
their country.
I continue to be hopeful that
our MPPs will see the value
of -supporting community
schools that are based on the
premise that education of
children is enhanced when
parents are involved in their
school. Christian schools
encourage parents (and
grandparents) to become
involved by having them
serve on elected boards and'
committees as well as by
allowing them direct involve-
ment in the classroom.
I am hopeful that the
Ontario Government will rec-
ognize- the value of funding
schools where teachers are
employed to model the love
of Christ, where parents are
partners in education, where
family values are respected
and complimented in the
school, and where solid acad-
emics prepare students for
further education and produc-
tive lives.
1 am hopeful that • the
Ontario Government will
carefully examine the eco-
nomic value of providing par-
tial funds for Independent and
Christian Schools.
If this Ontario Government
is really serious about
improving education in this
province, and is at the same
time interested in saving tax
dollars dedicated to educa-
tion, 1 am hopeful that it will
recognize that it can achieve
both of these goals by provid-
ing some funding for
Christian and other indepen-
dent schools.
Clarence Bos
I don't know about you but
1 like to get started on an •
important business trip to
New York City in the middle
of a traffic jam in the city of
Port Colborne, population
19,000.
A traffic jam in a town this
size requires that all bridges
be up at the same time and
that all citizens, little children.
too, steer their cars and
Tonka trucks toward each • •
canal crossing just as it's
closing. -
Then, running late: I really
like to be greeted by both -
automated parking gates at
the Buffalo International
(Really???) Airport with the
electronic flashing message:
"JAMMED! JAMMED!
JAMMED!"
Running at full tilt for the
airport with my hags heating
me .about the neck and ears, I
then like to pause for a
moment and admire the shiny
under -belly of my US Air
#737 as it roars overhead for
La Guardia Airport without
me in it.
Okay, so I managed to
avoid eating an airline
•
breakfast, that still doesn't
make up for all the
inconvenience.
After talking with a •
ticketing agent I was
convinced I didn't really
want to go'to New York City.
No, I wanted to go to •
Newark, New Jersey to see a
huge, fully -operational,
industrial city after it appears
to have been hit by many
nuclear missiles.
From Newark I was treated
to a shuttle bus ride to the
Port Authority terminal' in
New York City where you get
to witness first hand,. the
breakdown of western
civilization on all levels. This
is.not a. bus station, this is a
refugee camp inside a
shopping mall. -
Once at the podium - -
addressing 70 executives of -
the precious metals industry I
was able to congratulate all
the New York Yankees' fans
on winning the world series. 1
assured them that we
Canadians and.Blue Jays'
fans were not at all hitter.
Actually,1 said, we were still
marvelling at the unique way
in which the Yankees got to
the World Series. i mean if
you look at. players like Steve
Not knowing anybody in
the city, I had a brief
conversation with the first
soul that actually made eye
contact with me: a moldy
piece of -cheese near Times
Square handing out $2 off'
coupons for the pizza joint
across the street. •
This wedge of cheese gave
the two pieces of helpful
information which [ believe
is illegal for native New
Yorkers. First he told me that
the Hotel Tudor was three
blocks up on the right.
Secondly, he warned methat
the ricotta and pineapple -
pizza was not what it used to
he.
1 was disappointed to learn
that his name was Vince and
he was from thc'Bronx. f had.
'some romantic notion that he
was' the son of some big
wheel of cheese from
Wisconsin.
Howe. Daryl Strawberry and
Dwight Gooden, it never
once occurred to us in
Canada to send scouts into
drug rehab centers to find
baseball players. (They were
amused hut in a silent kind of•
way). •
The Toronto company that
sent -me to New York to
speak, shipped 70 copies of
-my new hook to the luncheon
as gifts for their clients: After
the place cleared out. there
were 12 hooks left. I'm sure
it was just an oversight.
. And they say New- Yorkers
are unfriendly. Not so. The
cabbie who took me to Le
Guardia was so nice, without
me ever asking, he drove me
out to Staten Island; up to
Long island, through the Tri-
State Area. all on the way to
the airport. Huh! He must
have thought I was some sort
of hick from Waintleet,
Ontario.
When he demanded $250
for cab fare; I flatly refused. I
threw $2000 in Canadian on
the seat and told him to hit
the road. He'll have to
vacation in Mexico in order
to unload that stuff.
-• Okay. the last one i made
up.
3) It is bunk. It's grossly deficient in detail
Dear Editor:
Last week I said the DHC
Hospital study was hunk. It- is
hunk. Here is only the short
list of reasons why (all are
based on the information
contained in the study and
yes, the study is grossly defi-
cient in detail).
1. The process was flawed.
Only a superficial, rush job
was done. Little or no com-
munity input was obtained,
The Community Survey
involved a telephone call to a
grand total, of 300 people,
while we have more than
160,000 people in our _2
counties. While seniors use
hospital services the most,
only 78 seniors were contact=
ed for their opinion. is that a
representative sample of our
community? Hardly. Have '
you ever been contacted by
telephone about any survey?
There was little or no con-
sultation with doctors. Love-
them or hate them. doctors
are still an important part of
the health care system. No
one ever talked to my spouse.
a family physician-
anaethestist. No visits were
ever made by Task Force
members to all hospital facil-
ities. is this process really
gathering the facts? '
Contrary to the expressed
desire to have input, in fact
all questions are asked'in
such a manner as to get only
the answer they want. The
"options selection process"
was highly. scientific and reli-
able - each of the 19 task
force members were given 3
blue dots to place beside their
desired options. These are
only a few examples of how
badly flawed the process was.
2. Challenges were identi-
fied 'which may not or do
not exist.
The study suggests there
are "service gaps. and unnec-
essary duplications".
Absolutely none were identi-
fied. Yes, clinical practices
do change over the years and
that is one of the- reasons why -
most community hospitals
enlarged their; emergency-
outpatient/day services areas
in recent years. But what
about dur aging population
and what will the needs of
the baby boomers be as they
grow olier?'Government
funding for -hospitals is
expected -to he reduced hy
"an average of 18 per cent
over 3 years". Is that realistic
- for rural hospitals which
receive only 7 to 8 per cent of
the entire budget" it has keen'
estimated that the money
saved hy the closing of one
of our community hospitals
would run the- Ministry of
Health for -about 2 hours.
' The study says it is difficult
to "recruit" and keep doctors,
and other health profession-.
als', yet Huron has hecn.rcla-
tively blessed and has .!(ways
had these professionals
available. Seaforth hak prided:
itself on attracting new physi-
cian _and Huron has never
been designated 'b9 the
Ministry as ah undckscfviccd
area. No hospital emergency
department has ester been
closed here. Closing hospitals
certainly isn't the way to
attract health professionals.
Changes are happening
both in London hospitals and
in Grey -Bruce hospitals and
our political and'health coun-
cil boundaries are changing.
Mention is made of these
critical factors but no consid-
eration beyond that seems to
have been given to them:'
3. What vision?
The task force, talks of a
"vision" hut it seems what
they really have are sugar
plum fairies dancing' in their
heads:, The study says..."an
optimal 1evt1 of coordination
will he promoted.... appropri-
ate relationships' will he
'CONTINUED on page 9
Ontario
Request for Public Opinion
on the Proposed
Nursing Home Annual
Licence . Renewal of
• Seaforth Manor, Seaford'
• In accordance with the Nursing Hunte•s art. opinion is 'wine;
requested prior to a linal decision being made on the above-
If
boveIf you have Comments: or ?pinions and wish to hnnq them rat the attention
of the Ministry of Health. you may .submit them in writing; by atldressincu
them to: s 1)ir,•rtor. Residential se•rvr . Branch
t )nlario Ministry .it Health .
3701) Yhnge Street. 7th Floor_
North.York. Ontario \12\l %IC
(416) 327-7157, by lann.ary n. 1')97
Please include the name of the nurs int; homy andepune i'roiect 4173-97
on all written submissions.
The Director will consider alt submissions before makintt .t tinal derision
Seaforth Lions Club
is pleased to offer .
transportation to anyone
needing a ride to
SEAFORTH HOSPITAL MEETING
WED. DEC. 4th 7:30 P.M.
(TONIGHT)
and
DISTRICT HEALTH COUNCIL TASK FORCE
MEETING TUES: DEC. 10 4 TO 9 P.M.
Both Meetings are at
SEAFORTH DISTRICT COMMUNITY CENTRES
Please Call one of the
following numbers for a ride
527-0373 527-1915 527-1390
527-0075 527-2389 527-0173
527-0282 527-0437
J
Health Care is
Changing!
As concerned residents we ha\,c a defi-
nite interest in how health care is
delivered at Seaforth Community
Hospital. -
Show your support.
Attend the Seaforth
Hospital Information Meeting
Wed., December 4-7:30 p.m.
District Health Council Task Force Meeting
Tues.. December 10 - 4-9 p.m.
Both meetings at the Seaforth &
District Community Centres.
Your participation is vital and valued.
Whitney-Ribey Funeral Home
d