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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-04-17, Page 1if your IOW roods April 941.7:*6sp, your sub. sculpt on Is duo. FIRST SECTION Three is ap The Wingham and District Hospital has received "full ac- creditation status" for the next three years. This good news was received by Executive Director Norman Hayes and was present- ed to the hospital board at its reg- ular meeting last Wednesday. A list of 19 recommendations and comments was appended to Local boy chosen for 4-N exchange Six "ambassadors" from Huron County have been chosen to represent the county 4-H club on an exchange program with Alberta. One of the six is Bill Armstrong 'of RR 4,- Wingham. Bill and the other five 4-H mem- bers will be the guests of Alberta 0 441 members in the Brooks area in July. The Alberta boys and girls will be coming to the Wing - year acci roved for ho the letter from the Canadian Council on Hospital Accredita- tion, but it contained more `com° mendations' than recommenda- tions. The . communication be- tween the medical staff, the ad- ministration and the hospital board, the hospital consultation service, the quality of medical charts, the medical -nursing pa- tient care committee and the con- trol of the laboratory by the visit- ing pathologist were all noted for praise and approval. The overall length of stay figure of 8.9 was also noted for approval as "a very commend- able figure for a community hos- pital of this size and type." The overall occupancy reduction from 99.8 per cent in 1971 to cper cent in 1973 earned an a tional citation. The recommendations 'on: changes and corrections for t next three years were, also"` worthy in that the departnlen .9er' committees concerned reported, they had already taken stepS, to either review or implement Board to review plans for hospital expansion The Wingham and District Hospital Board will soon start into a review of plans for expan- sion of services and physical plants. The preliminary steps were discussed at a regular monthly meeting of the board last Wednesday evening. Board Chairman DeWitt Miller said there was no doubt about the need for expansion. "We do need extra room for services," he said, buthe. cautioned "there are many things that have to be done before we get into it." One requisite included in the "many things" was explained by Norman Hayes, executive direc- tor of the hospital. "There's a se- quence that has to be followed or the Ministry will not -allow it," he said. Ministry approval is neces- sary if the hospital hopes to ob- tain any grants to assist with the expansion. Mr. Hayes said one of the first things is a "functional role study" that would include the growth potential of the area, the philosophy of the service per- formed by the hospital and the distribution of medical services in the community served by the hospital. "Either we do it ourselves or have someone do it for us," Mr. Hayes said. Costs for a consul- tant, however, could run to about $7,000. Mr. Hayes explained that if the Ministry approved the plans and granted financial as- sistance, they would pay for two- thirds of all the costs involved. He added, however, "If they reject it, that's a horse of a different color." You really wanted to know? ham area for their exchange in early August, The other five Huron County repfresentatives are:. George Thompson, RR 2, Clinton; Jim Nivins, RR 3, Auburn; Susan Tyndall, RR 4, Clinton; Donna Hackett, RR 7, Lucknow ; and Joan Pym, RR 2, Centralia. They were chosen .out of 30 applicants from the county by a panel of judges including Fred Uhler, President of the 4-H Club Leaders' Association, Mrs. Fred Uhler, Alec MacGregor and . Len MacGregor. Len MacGregor 'said the criteria for the decision were out- lined by the applicants them- selves at a discussion workshop. He said the judges had a very hard time choosing" the six "good ambassadors" since all the appli- cants were very good. Huron County is one of five counties in Ontario to participate 4 in the program. The others' are Wellington, Perth, Oxford and Middlesex. r f b 0 ,.,A tµt the weather, that is.. Well .: it's one heck of a lot -better tart i �uv�is a week ago, but it has a long way to go before you might call it spring in these parts. The drifts and various shovel- lings piled up after the Great Storm of April 3-4 still stand there grinning at us and a chill north wind has kept things pretty draughty since that paralyzing event. Sunday, April 13 saw- a steady fall of soft snowflakes and temperatures at ' the • freezing point (that's zero Celsius, in case you are behind the times) . But there are signs. 4 few shivering robins are wandering tCroutnd lh the snow and mtid ob- viously pretty ugly at the bad ad- vice they got from their travel agents: Some of the weaker - minded citizens have been wad- ing the icy waters of the Maitland at Goderich and Port Albert with fishing rods in hand. And some of us have so much faith that we are tending our young tomato plants on the bathroom windowsill. Just hang in' there! Things might improve - about the mid- dle of June, Damage heavy in car mishaps One person was injured and damages were rather high in four separate car accidents' investi- gated by the Wingham detach- ment of the Ontario Provincial Police last week. Ipjured as a result of a Saturday mishap was Meryl A. Krieger of Seaforth. The collision on County Road 12, south of Thomas St. in Brussels also involved Douglas P. Gibson of RR 2, Orton. Damage to both vehicles was estimated at $3,500. DELI HT AND ENJOYMENT were written all over the face of four-year-old Heather as she sampled, and obviously approved of, the pancake and sausage meal at the Belmore Maple Syrup Festival Saturday. When asked whether she liked the meal, Heather could only*nod her head vigorously, but the look on her face more than made up for her lack of On Monday, April 7, a car driven by William J. Van Osch of RR 2, Goderich was eastbound on Highway 86 when it struck the north shoulder of the road, spun around, hit a snowbank and rolled over on its side, sliding into a hydro pole. Damage was esti- mated at $1,000. A collision that same day on the parking lot of McGavin's Farm Equipment in Morris Township involved Carl Johnston of RR 2, Bluevale and David Harrison of Priceville. Estimated damage was $300. On Saturday a car owned by Alfred T. Baldwin of RR 1, Harriston, was parked on the north shoulder of Highway 87 when it was side- swiped by another vehicle. Damage was estimated at $200. Mr. Hayes said that the expap, sion plans were by no meansim- minent "We have to do oor homework ... andthis will take about five years. We are loo dng for approval in principle well ahead of the game —then it's Nat a matter of waiting for our turn. tome." Dr. J. C. McKim suggested that "our turn" might be sooner t1n. forecast by Mr. Hayes. He s ld "We have this approval in per; ciple for expansion of service'; and referred to a letter from the Ministry of about five years ago. He •suggested that the letter he used as a starting point in the -re- view of future plans. Dr. B. A. Hanlon proposed that, the ° board expand its 'horizons with respect to the limits of eit- pansion. "We should see what the community will need in the nett ten years and then see where the hospital fits into this." Several of the board membets proposed that a planning corn- mittee be established to reviV the situation,, but it,was .dee.ci� that the' management coinniittee take the matter under considera- tion 'in the preliminary stages. The management committee chairman, Jack Hodgins, will re- port on the results of the review at the next hospital board meet- ing. 1 I suggested changes. A topic for extended discussion was the recommendation tlmt the laundry room area be considered for improvement whenever building conditions permit, The laundry room is located directly over the boiler room, resulting in very high temperatures in this area. Mr. Hayes explained that this was obviously "a design fault" and that there is a trem- endous amount of heat generated from the laundry machines themselves. He said there is nothing that can be done about the situation at the present, since the hospital can't even find air conditioners capable of cooling that section. And "to do band-aid patching at this point is rather difficult," he added. The issue was finally referred to the prop- erty committee for consideration and review. 'The problems involved in ob- taining a full-time physiother- apist for the hospital were also brought under review. The ac- creditation council noted that "the number of services render- ed (by the part-time physiother- apist) indicate that there is po- tentially a need here for a full- time, physiotherapist." Mr. Hayes reported that he had been trying to get a full-time physiotherapist for some time now by advertising in various Canadian.and United States jour- nals. The hospital has used the services of the part-time physio- therapist since the resignation of the Vijay Karnik in August of last year. Mr. Hayes said that about $600 has been expended on adver- tising since that time and that let- ters have been sent to schools of physiotherapy. The replies to date have been unsatisfactory. .and discouraging. e sfestbat one of the problems, aside from the scar-. city of qualified physiotherapists, might be the question of salary. Mr. Hayes said_the hospital is of- fering less than what. -.most `charge' physiotherapists are asking at present. We live cheaper today than fatlier did in 1936 Jack Hayes recently unearthed a copy of The London Free Press carrying a dateline from Jan. 16,, 1936. The news of that day is in- teresting, not so much for its an- tiquity, as the fact that it pro- vides a comparison of prices and wages in the depths of the great depression. One story in particular caught attention. The Toronto board of control considered a report that some men in that city were work- ing as much as 50 hours a week for wages running from $7.50 to $15.00. The report pointed out that people on such low wages had to be supported partially by relief. The general conclusion was that the government should pass a minimum wage law to guarantee at least subsistence to employed persons. Equally interesting was the content of the advertisements in the same issue of The Free Press. Superior Stores advertised coffee at 39 cents a pound; two half- a pound tins of first grade fancy pink salmon, 19 cents. Dominion Stores offered fronts of lamb at 15 cents a pound; round steak 19 cents a pound; bacon 23 cents a pound; prime rib roast of beef 19 cents a pound. It was Mr. Hayes observation that today's consumers are not really so badly off, despite high prices. The price of beef, for ex- ample, has escalated about nine times in the intervening 30 years, but most wages have climbed at a much faster pace. In today's world, a person earning only minimum wages of $2.40 per hour, who had the ambition to work the 50 hours mentioned in the old paper, -would earn about $120.00, or 16 times as much per hour as his depression counter- part. Thus today's buying power from an hour's labor is almost twice as great as it was in 1936. CONDUCTOR AL MULLIN, a music teacher at the Goderich High School, explains the role of the various instruments played in the Gbderich Collegiate. Concert Band tb the stu,dents of the Wingham Public School at a Monday morning performance. The band has traveiled.to all the high schools in the area except for Seaforth and played at F. E._AAadilI that same morning. Police, council settle n two-year co Conciliation in a wage dispute between the Wingham Town Police and the council's .police committee last 'Tuesday has re- sulted in a contract agreement, but it seems nobody's happy with it. "They aren't happy, we aren't happy,',' was Councillor Bill Harris' comment as he reported on the agreement at a special town council meeting Monday. Constable Ed Daer accepted the two-year contract on behalf of the police at the conciliation meeting, and council ratified the contract on behalf' of the town at Monday's meeting. Under the new contract, the sergeant . will receive $13,750 for 1975, while a first-class constable will get $13,250. The overall increases are about 24.6 per cent higher than 1974 figures. A 10. per cent in- crease for 1976 was also offered by the police committee and accepted by the police who had originally requested a 14 per cent increase. Total increase ' in salaries for 1975 is $11,590 over wages in 197 The total police budget, including fringe benefits, car allowance and insurance, was estimated at $112,975 for 1975 as compared to a 1974 budget of $98,238.36. Councillor Harris explained the conciliation procedure for coun- cil: "The conciliator was there with us, The final offer was a package deal. We said, 'OK. This is the final offer.' We always say that. We could have taken it to 4 arbitration, buf we°abbiif one -to -two thousand to arbitrate, so we would have been out that miney. It .was quite an ex- perience." He explained, that no one was really satisfied with the contract agreement, but the increase ac- cepted by the police is still below the 45 per cent increase originally demanded at the start of negotia- tions. The increase is greater, however, than the 21.5 per cent raise offered by council prior to conciliation talks. The conciliator was George Markovick of the On- tario Ministry of Labor. Council didn't hide its dissatis- faction'with the entire situation. "There's gotta' be a way out of this," Councillor Jack Bateson stated. "These'people are just as good as police in any town, but they're not worth that money. We're always going to have this problem as long as someone `over there' is getting more." He was referring to the higher police wages awarded in nearby Clin- ton. A direct result of the dissatis- faction expressed by council was a motion by Councillor Margaret Bennett that council write to in- quire about costs for Ontario Pro- vincial Police policing of the town in 1976. Mrs. Bennett said, "The town people would really like to keep their own police force," but that she would like to know the relative costs of policing by the OPP. Two -car collision claims four Tragedy struck this area of Western Ontario shortly after midnight on Saturday when a two -car head-on collision claimed four lives and critically injured two other young men. The acci- dent occurred on Highway 4, about five miles south of Tees - water, near the Belmore cutoff. Killed in the collision were Randolph (Randy) Willie, 17, of Teeswater, John Van Boven, 19, of Walkerton, and Stewart Mann, 18, of Lucknow. The other three lads, Bud Bruce Harvey Houston, 15, of Teeswater, Wayne and Ronald Doerr, aged 18 and 16 re- spectively and from RR 2, Wingham, were rushed to the Wingham and District Hospital by ambulance and immediately transferred to Victoria Hospital, London. The Houston youth passed away shortly after admis- sion there. Wayne Doerr was reported Tuesday morning as being in critical condition suffering head and leg injuries. His brother suffered abdominal injuries and was listed in fair condition. The Van Boven and Mann youths were riding in one of the cars which burst, into flames on impact with the second car. Their identification was not known until late Monday after dental records had been closely examined. The other four teenagers, all related, were riding in the second car which was driven by the Willie lad. The accident was investigated by the Walkerton detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police. Randy Willie was born in Wing - ham, a son of Fred Willie and his wife, the former Clara Doerr. He attended Sacred Heart School, Teeswater, and the F. E. Madill Secondary School and was em- ployed at the Teeswater Creainery a6, -the time of his death. Surviving, besides his parents, are three sisters, Mrs. Jim (Mar- cella) Miller cif Tara, Mrs. Harry (Isabelle) Miller Jr. of Sussex, New Brunswick, and Mrs. Tom (Eldora) Austin of Walkerton; three brothers, bavid of Tees - water, Clayton of Windsor and Allister of Sussex, New Brus- wiek. Another brother, Wilfred, lost his life in a car accident in March of 1974. The late Randy Willie rested at the MacPherson Funeral Chapel, Teeswater, until Wednesday morning, thence to Sacred Heart Church for Mass at 10 a.m. Tem- porary entombment took place in Teeswater Cemetery Chapel with the final resting place to be Sacred Heart Cemetery. Bud Houston, was born in Wingham, a son of Harvey Hous- ton and the former Jennie Willie. Re attended Teeswater Public School and at the time of his death was a student at F. E. Madill Secondary School. Surviving, besides his parents, are four sisters, Mrs. Keith (Janet) Hubley of Nova Scotia, Bonnie, Darlene and Marion all at home; and his grandmother, Mrs. Dave Houston of Wroxeter. Funeral service was held at two o'clock on Wednesday at the MacPherson . Funeral Chapel, conducted by Rev. Gerald Thompson of Knox Presbyterian\ Church, Interment will follow ink Teeswater Cemetery. Stewart R. Mann was one of Lucknow's star hockey players and a Grade 12 student at F. E. Madill. Born in Listowel on Feb- ruary 9, 1957, he was a son of Eldon and Aileen (Dilworth) Mann of Lucknow, formerly of Grey Township. Also surviving are one sister, Mrs Terry (Linda) Rathwell of Lucknow; two brothers, his twin, Stephen, and Donald both at home; and his paternal grandfather, Alex Mann of Port Ryerse, formerly of Mon- crieff. The late Stewart Mann rested at the MacKenzie Memorial Chapel, Lucknow, where service was held at two o'clock Wed- nesday, conducted by Rev. D. Kaufman assisted by Rev. Glenn Noble. Interment is to follow in Greenhill Cemetery. Donations are being accepted for a plaque to be placed in the Lucknow arena in his memory. John -Van Boven is survived by his mother, Ann Forsyth of Walkerton, and his father, John Van Boven of Woodstock; three sisters, Mrs. David (Catherine) McKinnon of Holyrood, Lynda and Terryann at home; one brother, Joseph at home; his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Forsyth of Riversdale, and his paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Van Boven of Delhi. The late Mr. Van Boven rested .at the Tanner and Pearson Funeral Home in Walkerton but at time of writing, funeral arrangements were not yet com- pleted. " Conrrcilor fgtris . epia�irii' that it would be a case of "just changing contracts and all our people c uld join the OPP." He said that one cost benefit from OPP policing would derive from the fact that the OPP already had a good communication system, while the proposed change in the town police communication system to a central communed tion system for the area could cost the town about $22,500 for tho first year plus about $10,000 to man and maintain the establish ment. The Ontario government would award a subsidy of 35 per cent for OPP policing, he said, while the per capita grant for town policing is eight dollars a head. "I think it's up to council now to think this all out carefully," Councillor Harris said. The motion to inquire into the costs of OPP policing was passed by council. Farmers' Night at Lions meeting The Wingham Lions' Club sponsored its annual . "Farmers' Night" last Tuesday, with each member hosting a farmer at the dinner. Guest speaker for the occasion was Harvey Davis, past warden of Bruce County and pre- sently vice-chairman for the 1976 International Plowing Match to be held in Bruce. Mr. Davis told the Lions and their guests that' the match would be held two miles west of Walker- ton, with a projected attendance of over 150,000 persons. He said that this sort or project requires the co-operation of everyone in the area to make it a success. Mr. Davis said it is not too early for the Wingham area to start preparations now for the 1978 match to be held just east of the town. The Wingham Lions' Club, already ahead of the game, has raised $30 for the plowing match through a Chinese auction organized by Lee Vance and Al Watson. In other business president Russell Zurbrigg reported on the convention in Stratford that was attended by over 800 Lions and their wives. Elected at the con- vention were new zone Chairman, Alan McLean of Ripley, and new deputy district governor, Jack Graham of Atwood. It was also reported that Mary Edith Gar- niss of F. E. Madill won the Lions effective speaking contest for Region 3 at Lucknow and will go on to the district finals in. Atwood on April 19.