HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-12-18, Page 34.�`
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"PAGE 8B—GRICH QlONA L-STAQ.THURSDAY, DECEMBER N.075
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orth4r OMA member dpores
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This weeks editilun of the
Signal -Star contains a Letter
to the Editor from Art Carr,
Palmerston, who is con-
cerned with the closing of
some small hospitals in the
province of Ontario. and has
aplan
to prevent c i
_
Mr, Carr sent a copy of his
proposals to u brhend. Ken„Yv.
m«oTugga,t. Fievheruon.'whq
is also u yormpr �owuLpan.
Now retired, Mr. McTaggart
was the first Canadian
civilian to be made an
honorary member of the
Ontario Medical Association
in recognition f hiservices
for raising funds . and his
interest in Toro,nttyllspitals.
Mr. McTaggart is so in-
terested in ,Mr. Carr's
viewpoints about closing
hospitals in ,()nrurio (two
hospitals most often men-
tioned as possibilities for
closing in Huron County are
Clinton and Exeter) that he
has written the following
letter.
Th,'8|gnal'Stardeeoua this
issue u[yuff|c/entimportance
to include the entire letter by
Mr, McTaggart in this
newspaper.
The letter says:
"When [ read The Obser-
ver's report of your tax
"deviation" plan, as a protest
against the announced in-
tention of the K8inieu-y of
Health's decision to close
your hoqnita\, a flood of
rnemories besieged me.
'The first, f course, was of
that night ,when you and /,,
were driving' back to`
Palmerston from Drayton
where a ,neeunQ had been
held to seek a solution of the
'physician
^
of finding a
for a currently
unserved big area. It was
\ate, but you 'found time to
show me, very proudly your
local hospital, and you
recounted. instances when it
had been recognized as the
diffe,ehcoOotweoo life and
death for many of your
com,nunity'yciucons.
^z can understand and
appreciate the emotional
reaction of your community
to the government decision.
As you ,know,'" Arthur, for
nearly eight years- since l
retired lhave lived in. urural
area, near p\esho'1on, with
an :excellent small hospital
six miles distant at Markdale.
''T,uo, sophisticated
procedures like. organ
transplants and open heart
, y arenot pnnjded
• 'tbcrn. but. in an area oy. a
Score or More small oom~
munibes which serve a
widely' scattered agrarian
'pnpu)udno, and eepec|uDy, in
a ,notion with an aging
pwnu\aciun, it provides a vital
service. It has amply
jusdMcd, to my knowledge.
its need in Iocal health care.
"Memory, hnwover.
reveals, that what is proposed
now for y'`u, hospital,. and
many others, could have been
se. Zr
..
"
Art and Craft
46 Hamilton St.
524-6815
NEEDLEPOINT
KITS
Lawi,c,awsvpnneo
Grumbacher
Art Supplies
t'PLUMBER
A HOME CAN'T BE
A PRETTY
ANCIENT
PLUMBING
SHOWS ITS
FACE .1
level
- -
SS Kit,46STON��.
.
foreseen years agoIt was
forecast by those engaged in
providing medmu| care:
insufficient professional and
technicalpersonnel,
inadequacy of essential
equipment or its adventitious
|ocadon, and eventual cost.
All this was premised on the
buaiof existing conditions at
that time. Rut others ignored
the warnings and their
political gain dom|noted,
seemingly, good judgment.
' "Now those warnings are
being recognized as the bitter
fruit is tuyted. The.ddvo for
economy ouu*es, you,, my
and government concern.
sma]r-hoepitu|u within a
,,"reuxmoub\e^ distance of
larger hospitals will be folded
up: their patients Will ,be
taken 'to larger "nearby
hospitals.
"Just what is a reasonable
distance; just how far is
nearby? •
"You recall
the old saw
abou( sow the wind andreap
the whirlwind"? The time to
have considered economies
was hcK`ro, or at least far
earlier than, the introduction
of the patient treatment and
h
cu�� system that h as
n,edpuutstd the action now
proposed by your citizens in
,un effort to hold their
^hnypitui
"Do you recall the tax
withholding tempest in
France few that
led to enactrnent. of
regulatory changes affecting.
small buSiifiesses? Just
mu/h, something can ensue
frum your proposall now. Lord
know it is needed.
"The fact is, however, that
the system created itsown
Frankenstein. ~
"That monster exists in the
number of active treatment
beds in Ontario hospitals by
patients who ought to .be in
,convalescent or chronic care
beds. With the Apathetically
few there are of the }attor, the
average physician hesitates
to send ho(nc patients who
still need 'even a*minimum of
medical and nursing care.
Knowing the circumstances
facing them there,he permits
them to remain in hospital
longer than this indicates.
' |o the cities . a big
proportion of such patients
are single persons facing
return /o 0 rooming vr�
boarding house: in the
country'/hey would return to
distant, even romnte, far-
msteads
u,m*touJy or wUugea, In both
cases these patients still
require continuing visits by
their Phyxic/un*, and more
;are and attention than can
'p provided hyuhusband o,
wife, a daughter or xun, or a
neighbor,
-This situation is
responsible now'for the ex-
cessive cost af health care in
Ontario. Hospital costs top all
other costs, including
.�byuic_|an*` and sturgeons"roeo. Yet the ',difference in
cost of providing alternative
care facilities and active
treatment hospital �beds�o
enormous, • '.
"In some inutuncoo, for
example where suitable
after -treatment beds ,,in
contiguous or nearby
structures are provid€d, costs
drop to a fraction of active
treatment bed coato...onp'
quurto, up to one-eighth or
More.
''Physicians have been
urging the need of such beds
since long before the present
situation dovdone,d even
before the 'present nadorip|
health progruro was
established. The difference,
between the cost Of active
treatment beds and. the poat-
treptment'period ..beds ' is
caused by •OYe ctxtvt •of
equipment and personnel
needed for the Cormor-x'ruy.
scanners and so on, and
modicu\, surgical, technical
and therapeutic personnel A.
big proportion of hospital
space is necessary for the
prov|uionn[uU this.
"Not' many years ago
government fostered con-
struction of community
hospitals and, peripheral'
hospitals in large urban
areas, Grants* Were ,made
available.' for active treat-
ment • needs, mainly
'provincial.: federal grants
p,y,|ded nothing for either
space or ,equipment for
operating • rnuma. laboratory
facilities and soon.
"So local citizens launched
campaigns und raised funds
,m provide the extra needs.
'o» the uggestifn is (hat too
many of these were built too
close to »t»»'*' They should
be replaced with community
health centres from which
patients. 'if n,cessa,y, could
be sent to the nearest
hospital.
"How 'close is the nearest
hospital when roads are
c[oxQd by blizzards? Last
winter some patients arrived
by snowmobile at our Mark -
dale hospital
urk'du\ehosp|tu| when highways
were closed for many huurs,
with snow-covered trucks and
cars 'blocking the efforts of,
plows toClear routes.
"Thus we see ,the problem,.
facing -government: cut c9sts
-because of lack of, far-sighted
planning. And we see, too, the
plight. of, communities facing
the lOs's of the institution they
helped to establish,,and which
to them means adequate
proteetion when needed.
''T,u,, the community
health conuoffers u ��s"m, �uwg|mxtoMeet txn,o^o
o,orbm suc� as greater area's, requirements, have to
'mphu^ix and attention for catch the ball,. Meantime ilia,
prnonu,» health care as Putient is given a ride
pro\ ided by district health It is not illogical to see u^
nu,^'s. But will it handle the community trying every
massively hemorrhaging dr~p&uto method' ''it can
gastric ulcer or such con- conceive to hold its huupimi
ditions as require x-ray and It feels that to provide the
*in4iu, other . tcchnicu\, medical and surgical at -
facility to even provide
t'[ Uu tention it is entitled to,'.its
u \y� alone physicians need the backup
u Bu longfud|idoa,undequiv,nont they,
the umri case, requiring inturn, require.
mu1hp\,8,lood transfusions,- "Perhaps something in the
form of a local health centre
will provide a few active
beds, plus less
costly convalescent space.
stillT�u� ^ leaves the ch,ontt
u�
cos facing us, and in thisuronthoroisoomu
^Undomtundub!v, em,oUon
enters the picture, How far
away will the patient be whe
relatives and friends want to
visit? How far away is the
doctor who will eventually'
Meet the need? `
reasons.And the |uu,,`'^ "So the effort /yt«hang on:
to what you've got until you
know what willreplace it.
Perhaps, even probably, your
effort will he frostrated flat
.t cap draw attention to your
state of mhnd, and the issues
involved. Out of it can come
or the critically injured
motorco,, crash vi»Um
~uryiv, an ambulance trip,
let alone a snowmobilejunket
to the "nearby" hospital? •
"We've oreuteu a sort of
cat -and -rat -farm Shbodun.
Arthur. The little hospitals
transpose their serious cases
to the nearest higger hospital
which has more 'specialists
and facilities. The Jatter,. in
'`~^^' ~""^"^^ ' bigger city
hospitals for thesame
much good, ihop,
�
-All the foregoing is ar
exercise in futilit}
but it reveals the ineptitude ol
mankind to face reality or tc
think bcfore leaping.,
"So, Arthur, good luck tc
you and your cummunby.^
MAYIAG
.
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