HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1976-01-29, Page 1rpp .0
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$ " 32 3
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4028 38 22
15,5" rain 1" snow 1"
rain 1.20”., .
be Worst that can `happen to any ' of
tit County's general public hospitals.
it they Will have a few beds closed,
tOne will be closed, according to
hospitalofficials.
rTis paper had indicated the
rossibility that Clinton and Exeter
ns ►ital would be closed, but .new in -
!nation supplied to us has indicated
t, between 50 and 60 beds will lie
closed in total in Huron's five hospitals.
Presently, there are 290 active
reattrnent beds. in. Huron County's five
eperal hospitals, including"62 at Clinton
ublic Hospital.
The provincial government has said
kbat there ` should he four activetreat
ent beds per 1,000 persons, leaving a
figure of 220 for Huron's approximately
'000persons.
Although Mr. Miller said at a meeting.
with hospital officials at Wingham last
Week that some beds in Huron would be
.losing, the board of ' governors at
...,inten have not yet received any
notification they are to close -any beds.
The Clinton hospital has an extremely
qcl track record in the pastseveral
ears.
Figures released by the hospital
howed that Clinton compares favorably
oa
with any. hospital, in Ontario, or even
Canada,
1fr instance, it cost only, 41ti4 per
day to keep apatient in Clinton Public,
compared to the provincial average of
$111.51, and the national average of
5105.47.
The average length of stay at Clinton
Hospital by a patient was 8.08 days,
toad tired to an 8.41 provincial average
and an 8.84 national average,
The Clinton hospital showed .a 74.24 per
cent occupancy rate for the first six
Months of 1975, compared to provincial.
average of 83.39 per cent and a national
average of 79.92 per cent.
Statistics also show. that .1.975 was a " 44 tree group with the birth to 14 years,
busy year at Clinton .hospital:. There tbe'5 to 55 years, and the 65 and over
were 1,884 patients admitted tO the' group accounting for about 22 per cent
hospital last year, compared to 1,944 in. each,
1974. There were 100 babies also born Nearly four out of every ten patients
here: compared to 5&• the previous year. •,;..(37 -per cent) admitted to Clinton Public
There were also 502 patients admitted come from the town of Clinton, while 15
for surgery last year, and 52 patients per cent corse from Tuckershtith
were, admitted to the Coronary Care Township and 10 per cent come from
unit, of which 38 were diagnosed as ' ullett'twp..Goderich Twp. and Stanley
having: heart attacks. aecOunt for seven and five per cent
So fir this year, there have been 140 iesp. tivety, and another ten per cent
patientS. admitted in January and the coo from Blyth. The remaining 20 per
storkhas visited the hospital. 11 times. cent come from other, towns and. villages
Nearly a tbird of all the patients ad- \ e ► the surrounding area.
raided to Minton Public are in the 15 to •.
inter Carnival opens, may be last
Clinton and district's 8th annual'
Winter' Carnival gets underway this
Friday night, and area residents are
invited to join in the fun, as it may well
be the last Winter Carnival in Clinton.
Ruth Lombardo, who has been the
chairman for the past two years, said
she was very disappointed with the
support the Carnival committee has
received from the area this year and she
budget may be cut
Clinton's ambitious road recon-
struction budget for this year may have
be drastically cut if The provincial
overnrnent doesn't come up with some
more money.
Clinton council at their regular
meeting last Thursday night unveiled
their reconstruction plans that include
the complete reconstruction of three
streets, the paving of another, and a
second coat of asphalt on three others.
The total plan is estimated by
engineers to cost 5109.000, but the council
fates several hurdles in coming up with
the cash.
Firstly. the town is only getting 545,400
grant from the province for new con-
struction, about, 87 percent of last year's
budget. The ministry of transportation
and communication has said they are,
f+011owing a policy of fiscal restraint
even though Clinton has applied for
more road grant. they are unlikely to
receive it.
If policy in the last few years holds
true, the final tender price is usually
much higher than the engineers.
estimates which now stand at 8109.000:
The snow clearing of recent weeks. if it
continues to eat into the road budget.
could cost as much as 515.000 before the
winter is over.
Council had planned to put the finish
coat -of paving on the parts of Isaac.
High. and Townsend Streets that were
reconstructed last year. at a total cost of
511.500.
They had also hoped to completely
reconstruct Rattenbury from Shipley to
Orange. Joseph from North to Orange
Street. and Wellington from Orange to
Strec Street.
was also scheduled to be paved.y
Shipley
In other business, council agreed with
the Township of Goulborn resolution
asking that the province raise the
maximum charge for a severance to 5100
from 550, and granted parking permits
to Mason Bailey, Harold Workman. and
nine to the ministry of agriculture.
By Jim Fitzgerald
Huron County residents were in for a
big surprise on Wednesday, the sun was
Out for the first time in what seems like a
month. For all you poor folks sweating it
out in Florida. it has snowed every day -
for the last three weeks,, although some
days we only received a few flakes.
Someone suggested to us the other day
that everyone who stayed home this
winter and endured the worst of nature's
wrath should be awarded a medal.
The only consolation is that for the
first time in five years we w0t't halve to
pray for, snow for the Clinton and
ristrict Winter Carnival which opens
is Friday night. Our problem now is .
much snow. ,
+++
Try and get out and support the
Carnival this year as it may be o it last
Like many volunteer organixatt0ns o
organizers feel it• is just too
tate, the workers to handle.
uetti J work for a feyr
Support of our local hockey teams is
So very poor and it's becoming very
who,
ihe�►rtip3tfethig to the local clubs w..
entertainment to the
live to� bring this etc:.
hockey weekend itt
Wit. This is minor hire � ,
tthl
.......h, and 1 know both the {Minor
�'ent� w ., , fCl sure
the older players wow
a fail hpue for a. change
"mpty'a'4
They also agreed to advance the
recreation committee 510.000 of their
1976 budget and promoted Constable
Don Shropshall to a second class con-
stable from a third class one.
Councillor James Hunter said he was
"upset" that there hadn't been a plan-
ning board meeting since last September
as he is council's representative on that
body, and council will contact the board
as they felt there were several important
subdivision plans coming up.
Councillor., Hunter will also write all
the surrounding_municipalities to try
and calla rrilktrffttiithe possibilities or
setting up an area dog control council.
Council also granted a building permit
to James Baker for alterations, 51.000.
t
was' stepping down from the post before
any successor could be groomed.
So far. the whole Carnival has been co-
ordinated ' by less than a half-dozen
people, while local service clubs have
been working hard on individual events.
The Carnival-, which, runs from .this
Friday, January 30 until February 8,
gets underway with the crowning of the
queen at Clinton Lions Club dance this
Friday night. There are still plenty of
'tickets left for that one. •
The Legion will hold a Carnival dance '
on Saturday night, and next Monday, the
Legion Ladies Auxiliary will hold• their
bingo.
Next Wednesday February 4 is a busy
day, with a senior citizens' card party
starting off the day at 2 p.m. at the
arena, followed by a family skate night
at the arena at 6 p.m.
At 8 p.m. a giant snowmobile tor-
chlight parade, sponsored by the Clinton
Snowmobile club. will farm at.the arena
and wino its t+tw tt> - the Vanastra
Recreation Centre where the ever
popular #•ipspitatity Night will be held,
starting at 9 p.m. •
Thursday's events include a broom -
ball tournament tVith eight teams
playing and action starts at 7 p.m.
Next Friday. February 6 sees a con-
tinuation of the broomball tournament at
.5:30 p.m. with a Junior "C' ' holey
game at 8:30 and the popular Las Vel'
night, sponsored by the Kinsmen and'
Dinettes, slated to get underway at 9:30.
A very busy day is planned for Sat.
Feb. 7 with the Winter Carnival Parade
to roll down main 'street at 1 p.m.,
followed by the Children's Day at the
high school and a snowmobile poker
rally, leaving from the Park.
The• broomball championships start at
4:30 and two Carnival dances are
starting at 9 p.m.. sponsored by the Fair
Board and the Fish and Game Club. -'
The .final day. Sunday February 8, will
start off with a pancake breakfast in the
arena. followed at 1 p.m. by the MOSRA
sanctioned Snowmobile races. spon-
sored by the Clinton Kinsmen.
A hungrg monster
strange looking, snow -gobbling monster appeared in the Clinton area last
week for thee first time In five years. The monster; really a giant snowthrower
owned by the department of highways, was in the area widening the roads.
nearlyplugged the 80 inch snowfall that has hit the area this winter. i
th
ovor 200 hK scpive'r.. the machine' cuts into the nearly eight -foot banksand
throws the snow back 2f10feet. (News-Bettirtiphotai-
,Storm causes several crashes
Goderich OPP report that there were
quite a litrw fender benders this past
week due to the treacherous road con-
ditions.
+ti• 'HYthwIty 4 at the Brucefield
tetsectl*nlast Saturday Gerald Bechler
of kit l�'Zurich, . struck the rear of a
vehicle driven by Allen Widrneyer of
High Street Southampton. Both vehicles
S , und.
v�rrri�sct�rt�tr .
The �
,,.e Widme er vehicle received $15)30 damage and,.
Mr. Il chter . sustained
t`oln+tsr illiuries and 61300 damage to his
vehicle.
The actidcnt oecurred about 9:36 "p4tfi
tast' th` rsday'I r i"ternoon. 3 wary 2Z
0 :...L s.�d. ,id. rN,ro
•
A gold walk
The Only way to get down many Clinton streets in the past several weeks was to
walk down the middle of the road. as Mrs: Cerial Van Damme did last Friday
on her way home from a visit to the hospital. Good warm clothes were also a
necessity as record ,breaking cold temperatures also accompanied the snow.
(News -Record photo)
Miller says more beds will be closed
BY JEFF SEDDON
Goderich Psychiatric Hospital lost in a
close vote with its counterpart in Owen
Sound and more hospital beds in Huron
)buoy will fail. under Health Minister
rank Miller'iy budget -cutting knife.
That was the news the provincial health
manager gave to about 100 municipal
politicians. health professionals and
citizens who battled through snow last
week to witness Mr. Miller's reasoning
for cutbacks in the 1976 health budget.
The meeting in W ingham, held in the
wake of Ontario Treasurer Darcy
McKeough's restraint announcements.
was designed to allow Mr. Miller to
reveal his 1976 health spending plans and
then answer questions from the floor on
what those plans meant to Huron. Bruce.
Perth and Grey counties.
Hazardous driving conditions.
however. restricted the size of the
audience at the meeting preventing what
was expected to be a minor donnybrook
with angry delegations from Chesley
and Goderich present to dispute the
reasons for closing hospitals in both
communities.
Mr. Miller echoed many of .Darcy
McKeough's reasons for cutting back
expenditures at the provincial level
citing many facts. figures and
'prophesies to support health spending
reductions. He said his ministry ex-
pected to spend 5300 million in 1976, the
highest the government ever spent in
health. ,
He added that the $300 million w ill not
fully meet the effects of inflation arid
that some "selective pruning" will be
done with no intention of "dip ngrading"
health care in Ontario.
"In short we shall still be able to meet
all the needs of the people in this
province but not necessarily all the
wants;" said the minister.
The procedures used in the Goderich
Psychiatric Hospital . closing were
wrong. according to Mr. Miller. He told
the group that when he announced the
decision to close GPH he was acutely
aware of the political aspects of the
move. as he was when he closed the
Chesley and Timmins hospital.
He said that as an elected represen-
tative asked to direct the health care
needs of Ontario he felt it was his
responsibility to do what he thought was
right despite the problems he created for
his fellow politicians. He explained that
he knew of the closing in early fall but
delayed his announcement until he had
more time after the election.
"I 'realize this government is putting
its future on the line." said Mr Miner.
"We feel we •must do what we do. We
don't close hospitals wjth glee. We close
them because we believe we must...
Mr. Miller told the audience the
closing came down to a choice between
the Goderich Psychiatric and the Owen.
Sound Psychiatric. He said when
looking at the two hospitals -the minister
realized that several programs were
being operated on a co-operative basis
between .thtt psychiatric hitrspitai and the
Owen Sound ,public hospital and the
result was the closure of GPH
"11 was that- close... he pointed out.
The closing of GPH results in a direct
saving to the ministry of $2.5 million and
Mr Miller said. in addition` to that'
hospital and Timmins being. closed.
another 1.000 beds will he taken from the
system.
He said the 'total restrairJ,, package
relative to psychiatric hospitals is ex-
pected to result in a net saving of SO
million
The minister refused to reveal what
.hospitals are up for closure but said that
more beds in Huron County will be
removed He said his list includes both
small rural -urban based facilities and
large hospitals in the province's cities.
He said that up to 3.000 heds will come
out of service in the restraint program
leaving approximately 3.000 surplus
beds in service He said that in many
instance, the hospitals identified for
closure have occupancy rates con-
siderably lower than their peers and
have an alternate facility within
reasonable driving distance
(s',ntinueit .►n page 12)
Snow removal costing town $500 a day
"You've got to have a thick hide and a
weak. mind to be in this business." said
Clinton councillor Ernie Brown at last
week's Clinton o'un'cil meeting.
Councillor Brown made• the comment
during discussion on the problems the
Public Works Department is having over
the recent heavy snowfalls.
It is estimated that snow removal is
costing the town about : 5500 per day.
every day so far this month. and winter
still has two months yet to run.
Councillor Brown. who is chairman of
the public works. has been deluged with
calls in the last several weeks. and most
of them concern snow. He said he has
received complaints ranging from the
town filling in driveways, to pushing
snow onto lawns.
lint' t (Mum 0uiis w..N«.......... )las
worked up to 12 hours a day nearly every
day this month jest to keep the streets
clear of the over four feat of snow that
has been dumped on the area so far this
winter. one of the worst since 1944.
"Mother nature is not co-operating
this year in helping us meet budget
,, restraints." said Mayor Don Symons in
a transport truck jacknifed on Highway reference to the costly clean-up.
8. !, mile east of Clinton, causing -Clinton's roads are the best of
another transport truck to run into the anywhere I've travelled.'" said Mayor
ditch. The highway waocked off for n Symons. "I hope the citizens will bear
few hours, while both trucks were with us."
brought back into operational older. ' Several other councillors also ex -
There and no pressed concern that the sidewalks
There was very little damage weren't plowed and council willlook into
one was injured. clearing the tanks along both highways.
The same afternoon, on Highway 4 by all the way through town. School in Goderich.
r also expressed about the Victoria Public .
the Vanastra Road turnoff. ttnotfic concern was p , �u rtntendent of education
thecars left asked on the street Bob Allem g pe
trailer acknifad, due to nrttnbetr of parked thesaid Mondaythat
tractor 3 ,. , for county board,
onditiOfs.overnight,hampering snow clearingy
tl'r and slippery iary. road a ; p , .. _ in the •ast month
wraith pp pushing lost school -time p
three hours. o ertiot s. and about personas pushing
closing the hg�tway fC►t~ . t� a, , from , . the because of bled. weather prompted the
�> were sttistoined and snow fromprivate property out onto
Again,}+red �n�t�r>i�� � � . cancellation.
very )illi@ dant gC wasincurred. roati"L
in other business. council learned that
the Huron County board of education
won't reimburse the town for costs in-
corred in operating crossing guards in
the town last year for school children.
Council had asked for the payment after
they learned that the board subsidized
similar operations in Goderich and
Exeter in the past. The board has
discontinued that policy
Council endorsed a resolution from the
Regional Municipality of Waterloo
asking the federal and provincial
gm, ern ments to revise their grant
structures on grants such as LIP and
W intario and spread them out over three
years instead of two.
Council also backed a resolution from
medical staff of Alexandra Marine and
General Hospital of Goderich asking for
the resignation of Health mnister frank
Miller over the closing of Goderich
Psychiatric Hospital
However, council permanently
shelved a resolution from the Township
of Stephen asking for their opinions on a
nuclear plant in Huron .
Schools lose up to six days
Some schools in the Clinton area have
missed up to one third of their classes
since the beginning of the new year
because of poor weather tip m five feet;
of snow. which has been dumped on us so
farthis winter. is the cause oftheschools
closing.
Treacherous road conditions caused
by an ice storm last Sunday night forced
the closing of most area schools again
this past Monday` -
Bad weather has also forced the
postponement of a ptanned professional
development day. which was to halve
been held yesterday (Wednesday.
.January 28) for Huron County
elementary school teachers.
The board's 320 teachers were to have
attended lectures and seminars at
001,
(i
4
000
0 ,:r :surd
Mr A lien also said that severe
snowstorms have resulted in the foss of
up to nine teaching days in some rural
areas of the county. The development
day has been postponed to pi ovide an
additional day of in4truction. 4
The board will det~ide about
rescheduling the day at its February
meeting.
Efullett Central School in Londesboro
was c used 611 days so far this month due
to drifting snow which made the country
roads impassable.
Huron Centennial School in Brucefield
was closed five days and Clinton Public
School was chased hilt a day. altlioug
the bus from Vana:tra couldn't make it
in for five days.
St. Jfseph's School in Clinton was
closed five and one half days this month
while CASS students have missed five
days of school.
Conestoga College in Vanastra had tat
g
close for .
for one daydue to lmpassabfe
roads.
—1.01.100