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Times-Advocate, 1999-02-24, Page 8Wednesday, February 24, 1999« I1;\1IS'/\1)\'()c;\ l PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 03511 ;ins Beckett Publisher and Editor Den Smith Deb Lord General Manager Production Manager Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL Will health care funding be enough? Health care has taken a hit in recent years, both from the federal and provincial governments. Last week's federal budget puts some of that money back into health care. The question every- one is asking is, will it be enough? There is no easy answer. Medical technology has advanced to the point where the line between life and death has blurred. What a previous generation would have regarded as miracles are now routine procedures, thanks to new treatments, new drugs, and new techniques. All of ,t costs money. What we are able to do has outpaced what we can afford to do, creating an ethical dilemma. Flow do we decide who gets treatment? Who makes the decisions? Where do we draw the line? Some countries have made the decision a sim- ple one. The only limit is the patient's pocket book. Those few who have the ability to pay for the best medical science has to offer will receive it, while poor people die of treatable illnesses. Some countries have a modified form of that concept, whereby everyone, however poor, can access a basic level of health care, but expensive procedures and, treatments are reserved for the wealthy. Then we have the ideal, where health care services are allocated to those whose need is greatest, where the poorest person has the same access to a procedure or drug as a mil- lionaire, and where no life is worth more than another. The ideal does not exist anywhere in the world, including Canada. It never did, and it probably never will. But this country at least pays lip ser- vice to the concept of equal access by having the taxpayer foot the bill for the lion's share of health care costs. For a time, people read that to mean every Canadian had the right to the best, most .expen- sive medical treatment available. We are gradual- ly coming to terms with reality, that medi -al ence can prolong human life beyond thL r , t where life has quality and meaning, a 'd ,+ medical resources are not limitless. A wise anu equitable allocation of medical resources, in a system which stresses compassion as much as sci- ence, is what most people want. In other words, they accept that some proce- dures like heart transplants will remain too expensive to become routine. And they recognize there comes a point when compassionate. nursing care takes precedence over aggressive treatment. But when they visit a hospital emergency room, they do not want to wait, in pain, for hours. It is clear the most recent cuts to health care have gone too deep, and money has to be put into the system to bring it back to an acceptable. level. It is neither compassionate nor cost effective to transport seriously ill people all over the country- side looking for an emergency' room that is open, to treat minor illnesses in hospital emergency rooms because there are no family doctors in the immediate area accepting new patients, and to have waiting lists so long that much more aggres- sive treatment is required. No government could afford to fund the best possible medical care for every citizen who wants or needs it, but surely Canada can afford a rea- sonably efficient and caring system. We do not have it at the moment, and we will not have it in the future unless nurses are rehired and hospital beds are reopened quickly. To most of us, the bottom line in our health care system is .that hospital emergency room. More chronic care beds eight years from now do not matter to the child with the broken leg, laying on the ambulance stretcher. Time for Zurich council to take a stand All right guys, it's time to make a decision. Zurich councillors have been dragging their feet on amalgamation for months and they're getting to the point where they either have to decide to commit to their `Original Six' group, or walk away from those talks to join Exeter, Stephen and Usborne in their amalgamation talks. Zurich has said all along it would rather amalgamate with Exeter than the other five municipalities in the `Original Six' (consisting of Hensall, Hay, Bayfield and Stanley and Tuckersmith Townships). For some reason, though, they haven't yet walked away from the `Original Six', although that could be happening soon, maybe as early as tonight when the group meets in Varna. Two important issues could split the group apart: location of the municipal office for the new amalgamated municipality and a decision )n whether to allow Seaforth and McKillop township into the talks. Zurich has already said it wants to have an office in one of the urban areas, not in the. proposed Varna site (although council agreed at its last meeting the Varna office can be usedfor administration) and council is dead set against allowing Seaforth and McKillop into amalgamation talks. But there's a problem — what if, at tonight's meet- ing, the other five municipalities vote to allow Seaforth and McKillop? What then for Zurich? Does council have the courage to stand up and walk out of the meeting? And if they do, there will be certain ramifications because, slice Zurich is separated from Exeter by Hay Township and Hensall, any effort by Zurich to join the Exeter, Stephen, Usborne group will probably require Hay and Hensall to go along with them. The problem with that scenario is that Hay Township is opposed to any amalgamation with Exeter. Hensall, on the other hand, hasn't said much one way or the other. All of this should make tonight's meeting in Varna; an interesting one and that's one reason the public should be attending the amalgamation meetings and letting their politicians know what they want. To those who have been following. the%a1na1- gamation talks closely, the demise of the `Original Six' is expected and anticipated. There have been personality conflicts between the various politicians from the start and there's been much griping about minor issues that shouldn't even be problems. And the major complications — such as the location of an office and whether to allow Seaforth and McKillop into the talks — won't go away. Plus, municipalities such as Zurich and Hensall don't seem to have much in common with Bayfield and Tuckersmith. As explained in this space a few weeks ago, it makes much more sense for Zurich, Hay and Hensall to join with the South Huron group (Exeter, Stephen and Usborne) and to let Bayfield, Stanley and Tuckersmith go their own way, perhaps entering amalgamation talks with Seaforth and McKillop. Whatever happens, it has to happen soon, because the South Huron group is moving ahead quickly and, although that group has left the door open for other municipalities such as Zurich to join them, th,.y may be reaching the poilit where accepting new municipalities may be problematic. So here's some advice for Zurich council: take a stand, walk out of the meetings and join South Huron. Hopefully, that will influence Hay and Hensall to also leave the `Original Six' and finally admit that doomed group was a bad idea. SCOTT NIXON AND ANOTHER THING About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. 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