HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1965-05-06, Page 3C-hec-Iar L-- n-d-ry
Master Control Panel
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-..•4,_ Al' $3,000,000 operation on the ' trained men go a long way,"
fringe of Goderich has asked said the 'ductal:.
town residents to bake it into In the Goderz,ch hospital one
the community and has .been in ten enter with me"r.(`ea1 pro -
accepted: blems brought on by drink and
The venation. is the -stream-
-
sit; cam- the majority of the patients suf-,
lipid sebttc^o-r1rba± red_- 4 ba io: er own•, ,varus _ ty1pes..
Hospital which is one pf the ipressian and nervous tensions.
largest employers in , Huron Dr. Hagan said the average
County with a total staff of 210. age of a patient in the hospital
"We opened' in �19ti2," sand would •be in the 40 s and the
administrator Ross McDaniel, average stay at the hospital
`and since ,that time we have would be -ane month.
been 'striving to create the at -
"0(f. course it all .decpends on
•imdsphere- of a -community ni ty hos- 'thy type of i lrl �i ess and a t what
piebal.
• stage tihe • person is brought to
Since the opening, the ho'spit us for treatment.,. Fortunately
all h.as,..buil�t up an aruxly of vol -.there is a great -deal of publicity
ttnteer_ workers__ under the dir-' 'directed' towards mental health
ea 1:on of. eo o'rd'inatt'or Mrs. Ann and thr is helping the- public
Redmond *rho do everything overcome, their old ; fears."
from sgii.a.re dance - calling to Danger Signals
• running the gift shop= at the • A:,ked to pin.,point possible
h(os(piba'1. danger signals for mental health
"They arm -an essential part Dr. Hargan repined: "In the more
of aui h spi:tal- life," said Mr_ severe illnesses_ we .normally
Daniel of the .290 -the._ p aiU e 't . is One _ of the
unteer workers who are on call lg't to know. But in the -milder
•`to the hospital. forms will' often find a
He adided: "They have done feelingg of in.3ecuritty, . general
more than anyibady to break nerveousness, lack of appeitite, de -
down the barriers. that could .prersio•n and, of course, worry."
have existed betlween a mental The psychia''tristt said the main
hospei+ta.l and the residents of reasons for mental problems
the com.munat' in which it is these days could be found in
situated ." - difficulties in social adjustment
2
:Ie
on
Open House ,
Last Sunday the 'h'ospital
'opened, its, doors once again for
parties of pe;;ple to, tour the
building. A total of r200 peo-
ple took advantage of the op-
portuniity to see the allvan'ce-..
mentts since the day ,of the
"i ns•t`.tult i ons." •
And the • advancements are'
this than bbvi•ous in ex -
ration
p.enoively equipped opo
which would put many first
class
hotels to shame with the scr-
v:'ces .it can offer.
1f any of the visitors were ex-
pecting to see patients 'cower-
ing in the corners, as' depicted
in the ' fi'.m ('epic o101 men'ta'l
hra'(th: "The Snake . Pit," they
mu t. Dave received quite a set:
Marek. .
A chance remark frlom one
visitor summer utp the general
feeling: "If I were a tourist com-
ing to this tare? i wouldn't mind
hooking in here at all."
The hostpit'al atmosphere, is
-to-,say--t•he•-lapt; frie(ndrl(y,- T ni.s•-
is to the credit of Dr. Joihn
Iia.g�in
and his medical team
w if f min the hot/Altai which has
a government budget of $250,-
000 a year for operation.
Goderich benefits indirectly
from a total payroll of some
$700,000 at the hospital. `'Most
of our employees do live in
.God eRIM , although some live
a little further afield," saitd.Mr.
McDaniel.
The 250 patients alt ,present
in the htosiptVart halve brigthit air�yy
rooms in ;which to live, firslt-
dltass food from ultra modern
kitchens, spaciousgrounds on_
which to roalm--,(in fact all and
more than normal co(pi darttis o(f.
home. ,
Staff Shortage
Bunt, of course, it also has its
serious side. Dr. Hargan, and
his team are constantly hiandn-
dapped' by the lack of trained
tpsyehiratrislts to meet the ' in-
creasci nrg demand from patients.
"Without a doubt you can say
that is the main problem we
face here," said Dr. Hargan.
"Last ye(air only 70 students
completed their certificate' Of
graduation and of these only
10 or 15 ,eai nee_ fr(oin Opiario."
There. are 22 similar mental
(hodpdba(lrs in Ontainio and many
clinics *bleb , op i to in out-
lying areas.. "So you on see
we have to make tie atvailab!1ee
and work p rc `dorms.
"Financial problems are only
one cause and .not quite as ma-
jor a one as moat people think,"
he said.
The staff shorrtia.ge at the hos-
pital ha., forced the administra-
tion to temporarily suspend
'taking patients from South
Bruce and I'etih which is also
c,oec.red by the G.oderich hos-
pital.
".'it the mom'ertt we are only-
t'alciutg spa 1 n}s from Huron.
Our intake'. hos dropped from
30 a month to 20 Meals e of
this," said I)r. Hagan. •
Despite the ,,vorries of obtain-
ing psi-.chiati.i:.'ts the remainder
of the hospi.tal dcrpa'r iments are
humming with a high, degree of
efficiency. .
Laundry'
In the laundry, s'upervisor
Doug huff is preparing to in-
crease tlhe work l-otad from three
tons a weak to 'take 4n the
laiu+iitdry from th+e new Ontario
Hospital which is shortly to be
opened at Ptalmerts►ton.
The hospital laundry has a
capacity of one and aiha(lf tons•`
a dray. The machinery is epei -
a,ted_JaF- tion-_istaitian s— ayzet,_. pY
unfieer to do the wor f j=
"Marry of t h p tients vol-
unteer tta do, ttfoa'k around the
,hosrptta'1,"-•'Said Mr. McDaniel,
"and—r- mean volunteer: Not
lime the armed services' ver
shone.". • .
At the- heatir.ig _ plant Chief-_
Engineer Al° Labib has •a team
o nin tradeseme•n.._and ten en-
gineers 'working' under him
round the' clack.
.The plant , contains two 125
steam boilers, a stelipa turbine
and a high . teaiiperattitre hot
water` boiler w'hiiicih provides
• radiant heat. • In addition Mr.
,Lobb and his_.men operate the
ho _(pflttal's' own- 'sewage disposal
•'plant under OWI11:C re(gulration�
:In case of fire the minter',
ance nen_ can operate a pump
whi<cth can provide 1,000 gallons
per minute att 100 pounds pres-
sure in rase of an emie(rgen•cy.
• The hospital also has its own
'garbage dirrp'osal unit, which is
virtually smokeless. and treats
the -water used in the laundiy •
'id the boiler- with a so•ft•e.ner.
-A piaster control panel in \1r•."
1 oh!1's office can practically do-
evrrOh:'n,.; c' ei as- they say
in the Woll;l ;_.f automation,
take i1 c'it '10 the. bathroom."
One :;,,ction or the panel re-
.1.,- the c r temperature at,
port.-tt; in the hospital to
11?• tl�r, sore t.'1,' 1 (`nl,ro1.,i,ture 1S
needs of t}le pat-
i +'
"We \•ai*y 'ho tem9;ler•alures
(', on the ages
patient., involved." said ;41r.
1 cl 1). :tf) 0' of 1110 olricr peo-
p• ,^ ,•( 01 to l',1;e I"c 31t
e,t,1; '
final c(,ni;nc•1,t 1-0•111 11r.,,11c,•
-
I)aniel: '`It is import ant to us
1;:,ce;iie part pf the
rr ;1 mnnily. 'tVe want people
know 11,'_+t have our ser -
ion.; fide J.a't, lust like any
11+ ,,11,hor, we don't mind them
dropping in to \i'N.:t us and see
how we run t'hl,r.gs." •
Male Patients' Workshop
Chef's Tour