Clinton News-Record, 1979-03-01, Page 1114th year -No. 9
Thursday, March 1, 1979
Weather.
1979 1978
Feb.
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Rain 15 mm
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MOH says bed cuts could cost lives
BY JEFF SEDDON
Huron County medical officer of
health Dr. Brian Lynch told county
council Friday that hospital bed cuts in
Huron County could come down to a life
and death situation for some people.
Dr. Lynch told council that there was
"no substitute" for hospital beds
claiming hospitals were the "most
important and most fundamental type
of health care there is".
The MOH told council that bed cuts in
the five hospitals in Huron County
would mean more work and expense
for the county funded home care ser-
vice. He said the home care, a county
operated service offering some nursing
care in people's homes, could be used
to pick up some of the patients that
would normally be treated in hospital
but added that there were many things
home care could do nothing about.
Dr. Lynch pointed out two major
areas of health care delivery that may
be threatened by bed cuts and cannot
be handled under home care. He said
obstetrics and caring for people with
heart problems could be difficult if
there is no room in hospitals to care for
them. He said winters in Huron County
could make it difficult if not impossible
for people to get out of rural areas to
hospitals in emergency situations. He
said many times a doctor will put
someone in hospital to avoid the risk of
weather preventing them from getting
to hospital in an emergency but he
pointed out that with limited bed space
those people cannot be admitted.
Dr. Lynch added that a further
problem could develop during peak
summer tourist seasons. He said the
hospital bed cuts were based on a
formula applied to the permanent
population of the county with no con-
sideration given to the summer
population. He said an already serious
shortage of beds could worsen in the
summer risking not only residents of
the county but tourists as well.
Pesky pat po# holes
A sudden thaw last week following a record breaking cold' snap meant minor
flooding, and for the Clinton Public Works department, their annual deluge of
potholes. Here foreman Harold Gibbings puts cold patch in one of the hundreds
of holes that popped up last Friday. (News -Record photo)
Four injured in $6,000
Bayfield Road car crash
Icy roads and high snowbanks along
the side of the roads are still making
driving hazardous, the Goderich OPP
reported.
Over $6,000 in damages were
received and three people were sent to
Goderich hospital with major injuries
in an accident on February 25.
A car driven by .Donald Keys, 48, of
Landon was travelling south on Con-
cession 3-4 of Goderich Township.
Unable to stop at the intersection of
County Road 13, he slid onto the road
and hit a second car driven by'Dianne
Garrett;, 17, of Bayfield. The Garrett
vehicle had been travelling west on
County Road 13 when the crash oc-
curred.
Mr. Keys and his son Kent, 13,
received major injuries while his wife
Shirley, 43, was not injured and another
son Guy, 13, received minimal injuries.
Miss Garrett, the lone occupant in
the, second car, received major in-
juries.
The injured travellers were all taken
to hospital in Goderich by ambulance.
Their conditions were not revealed by
the hospital.
Damage to each vehicle was set at
$3,000.
On February 20, on concession 10 in
Stanley Township, south of County
Road 3 a three car crash caused $600 in
damag€
A pickup driven by David E.
Williams, 26, of Oil Springs was nor-
thbound on the concession road when a
second vehicle driven -by Geoffrey S.
Ireson, 17, of Sarnia pulled out of a
driveway. The Williams vehicle
swerved to avoid the second car but the
two collided. The Williams vehicle then
hit the rear of a third pickup which was
parked along the side of the road.
Joseph E. Haskell, 31, of RR2 Oil
Springs was in the parked vehicle.
Damage to the pickup Williams was
driving was set at $200, 'the second car
received $300 in damages and the third
pickup, owned by the same company as
the first, received $100 in damages.
The Clinton police reported one
accident this week on February 19.
The collision on. Albert Street
resulted in $200 damages to a car
driven by Nicholas P. Klaver, 26, of
RR3 Kippen. Damages of $400 were
received to a second vehicle driven by
Eugene B. McAdam, 49, of Clinton.
Paul Hubert, Grade 5 just couldn't get enough pancakes on Tuesday. After with
finishing his own, right down to the very last lick, he moved on .to his
classmates' Brian Peacock and Jeff Ryan. They along with other students at
St. Joes' enjoyed a pancake lunch this week. (News -Record photo)
• •
County may eliminate deputy -reeves
BY JEFF SEDDON
Deputy -reeves may be elin-iinated
from county council if not for efficiency
of the elected body then because there
is no room left in the council chambers
for more politicians.
Huron County council was told
Friday -by its executive committee that
a recommendation on representation
on county council would be brought to
the March meeting for discussion. The
executive committee reported to
council that several municipalities in
If you were asleep during last
Monday's eclipse, you dldn't miss
too much, as locally, the
phenomenon was a disaster because
-of heavy cloud cover.
However, there was excellent TV
coverage, and many saw what has
been described as one of the best
eclipses in decades via the CBC. The
students were kept in ,school over
noon hour and turned the occasion
into -a bit of a party.
Next eclipse: 2017.
As this is being written, today
(Feb. 28) is the last day of the month
and the first day of fasting for many
people, as we enter the period of
lent, although one wag told us it
won't be as hard this year to cut
back on food during lent. Just eat
what you can afford.
As well, as this is being written,
it's a fabulous day with spring-like
temperatures, in the plus 7 range,
More like the middle of March. In
fact, the last week in February has
been above normal, and the sap is
even running in the sugar bush down
at Bayfield.
But the important day seems to be
today, March 1st find depending on
whether it comes in like a lion or a
lamb a- our weather will be decided
for the restof the month.
With the airing of "Roots the Next
Generation" on TV it.) the past week
or so, I decided to check on my
geneology, and find my ancestors
are from a potato farm in Ireland, I
think I'll write a book about it, and
call it "Tubers."
Paying $14,000 Mr a subscription'
to the News -Record means either
inflation has gone rampant, the
paper if valued very highly, or
somebody's crazy. Alas, none of the
preceding reasons are true. That's
just what our paper was worth in
play money at last Saturday's
Kinsmen Las Vegas night, a very
successful event that raised $1,400
for the arena floor fund along with
being fun too.
-i- ± ±
Another area service club, this
time the Londesboro Lions, are
continuing on their fund raising
scheme and this Saturday they
embark Ion their monthly newspaper
pick-up in Clinton. Have your
newspapers, bundled and tied, out at
the curb by 9 a.m.
the county were close to the status of
sending a deputy -reeve to county
council. The' committee pointed out
that the size of council would probably
increase within the two year term
councillors are now serving:•;-MThe
committee pointed out that if nothing
else council faced a problem finding
space in the council chambers for the
new representatives to sit down.
The committee explained three
methods council could use to determine
representation at the county level. At
present any municipality,wit '1,000 or
more electors sends a reeve and
deputy -reeve to council. That figure
could be changed so that only
municipalities with 2,500 or more
electors send a deputy -reeve or each
municipality send.,one representative
to council.
If council made the cut-off for
deputy -reeves 2,500 electors all
townships but Stephen.would have one
representative. Of the five county
towns only Goderich and Exeter would
send a deputy -reeve to county council.
Village representation would remain
the same and the size of council would
be reduced from 45 members to 29
members.
Goderich township reeve Grant
Stirling told council there was merit in
,the plan to reduce the size of council.
He pointed out that at a time when the
population of Huron County is dropping
political representation at county
council was increasing. Stirling said it
was time council took "a good look at
i.t. .
Morris township reeve Bill Elston
argued that if the size of county council
was reduced it may be ineffective if the
absentee rate was similar to Friday's.
Elston pointed out that if as many
members were away` from a- 26
member council as were away from the
45 member group there "wouldn't be
many members here". Elston went on
to suggest that "pretty scion there won't
be any need for county council at all".
Breaks keep PUC busy
It may seem an oddity, but just as
predicted by Clinton Public Utilities
manager Guss Boussey last week, a
spring-like thaw last week caused five
separate water main breaks on Friday
and a further 22 frozen water services
to homes and business.-
Mr. Boussey reported that the action
started last Friday morning in the
middle of a mild spell, the first after
nearly a month of extremely cold
weather.
The first two breaks occurred in
Vanastra on Friday morning, foilowed
shortly afterwards by a break on High-
way 4 opposite Haugh Tire.
Crews had just'*otten those repaired
when the six-inch main on Highway 8
broke in two separate places, east of
Percival Street.
PUC workers worked around the
clock un We Ui oaks j.incl were ham-
pered by five feet of frost in the ground,
but managed t� have water ,service
fully restored by 2 a.m. Sunday.
"About 50 to 60 customers were
without water anywhere from one to 10
hours, and we never heard a com-
plaint," said Mr. Boussey. ,
"I'd like to thank the people for being
so co-operative," he said.
Of the 22 frozen water services,
Mr. Boussey said 20 were lines that had
never frozen before.
"I don't know what it is, but as soon
as we have a thaw following a
prolonged cold snap, then our troubles
begi ," said Mr. Boussey.
"T a milder weather seems to drive
the f ost down."
He said the PUC usually warns,
custdmers who have had frozen lines in
the past to leave a tap running.
Bill Elston, reeve of Morris township,
asked the MOwhat council could do
in support of hospitals trying to fight
the bed cuts. Elston said people in the
Wingham area strongly supported a
meeting aimed at dealing with the bed
cuts. He added that there seemed to be
an atmosphere of futility in the county
claiming people simply don't know how
to avoid the ministry order to cut beds
in local hospitals.
Elston was critical of the ministry
clairrang bed cuts were "one of the last
things that should be happening to us".
He said the hospital beds were needed
adding the move was "one of the most
dreadful things this province could
do".
Dr. Lynch said there didn't seem to
be any singular thing that could be
done to fight the bed cuts. He said it
appeared the ministry was 'not
listening to municipal councils or to
hospital boards but he felt certain it
would listen to a public outcry. He said
a "grass roots" protest supported by
people who elect the government would
probably get the attention people
wanted it to.
He told council he had visited the
hospital boards of the five county
hospitals -and had found that each
hospital is dealing with the cuts in
different ways. He said ministry
penalties imposed on hospitals not
abiding with the order to cut beds left
the boards "with little choice but to
develop a plan to fit the bed cuts into
the operation of the hospitals".
But Dr. ..Lynch did say that two
hospital boards, Goderich and
Wingham, seemed to be taking a more
active stand than Clinton, Exeter and
Seaforth. He said the two larger
hospitals were attempting to demon-
strate to the public that the beds left as
a result of the ministry cuts were "not
enough to provide adequate medical
Turn to page 3 •
Clinton hospital will
go along with bed cuts
The Clinton Public Hospital does not
plan to fight the health .ministry's
cutback.
The board has agreed .to Health
Minister Dennis Timbrell's bed
restraint program and will close 14
beds.
While some other hospital boards,
with limited public support, are
petitioning the ministry over the
cutbacks, the Clinton board is grateful
that the local, hospitatwvon't be closed,
as was threatened three years ago by
former healthhiintster.Frartk Miller.
Clinton hospital. adihinistrator Doug
Coventry explained, "After a few
months, if we feel we have problems,
we might approach the ministry."
"It won't do much good complaining
now," he added.
The Clinton hospital currently has 44
active treatment beds and by the end of
this year they will reduce the number
to 30. The cutback will continue over
the next two years, leaving the hospital
with 26 active treatment and chronic
beds or a ratio of 3.5 beds per 1,000
population.
With the reduction to 30 beds the
hospital will likely have -an occupancy
rate of • 85-90 per cent, Mr. Coventry
noted. In January, with a higher
number. of beds, the occupancy rate
was 70 per cent and in December, 64
per cent.
"We might have a waiting list for
elective surgery," Mr. Coventry said,
"hut most larger hospitals are usually
faced with that."
More than the bed cutbacks, the
Clinton hospital board is concerned
with the limited budget that they must
operate on. Beginning on April 1, the
hospital will operate on a budget of
$1,645,506, only $34,822 more than last
year's budget of $1,610,684. •
The 2.1 per cent increase'won't meet
the 9.8 per cent inflation rate,
especially with medical and surgical
supplies increasing 10 to 15 per cent.
Budgeting cutbacks have not been
finalized yet since the 1979 wage
agreements for hospital employees
aren't settled yet.
"The staff here are a little con-
cerned," Mr. Coventry admitted.
However, he hopes that no full time
employees will be laid off, only part
time hours may be cut.
Mr. Coventry noted that no lay offs
have resulted from' the budget cuts yet.
One employee in the engineering
department has gone, but he was only
hired on a temporary basis.
It's been a busy week for the C[inton PJC, as they faced five major water main
breaks, and 22 frozen services. Here Don Bartllff, left, and Don Ellwood
prepare to bore through five' feet of frost to reach one break on Highway 8, east
of Percival Street. The boys worked around the clock in fog and rain until 2
a.rtrt. gunday #horning fixing everything. (News1ecord photo)