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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-06-04, Page 21WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4,1986 p"gQNDUIPIA iC'fl, p-`r40o-' 10 aflta�lGD.h1N�8A-r��w;11A'?ow:uH 11 SECOND SECTION 1'. Summer fun in Bayfield Huron eal Unit faces lay-offs A sunny day, a warm breeze and a view of Lake Huron is all a person needs to enjoy summer in the , Village of Bayfield. Although summer has not officially arriv- ed, the extremely warm temperatures during the last week brought boaters out in full force. While those with boats brushed up on their skills, those without boats strolled along the pier, taking in the fresh air and watching the boats head for the open water. Standing along the sandy beach, on lookers could take in the entire scene. (Anne Narejko photos) BY SUSAN HUNDERTMARK The Huron County Health Unit is in a financial crisis and may be laying off staff this year, says Dr. Harry Cieslar, Medical Officer of Health. "We're asking people to take leaves of absence but if not enough people take them, we'll be looking at lay-offs. This is the first year we've ever been in this state. High technology is getting all the money while public health gets less and less," he says. The Huron County Health Unit employs approximately 50 people. Each employee is being asked to take a two weeks leave of absence without pay. And, if the health unit cannot make a four per cent wage set- tlement with its employees, two to four week lay-offs of staff may result, says Dr. Cieslar. "We're not planning on stopping any ser- vices. We're hoping the staff can rotate with their leaves." Out of a $10 billion budget for health care in Ontario, public health is allocated $140 million, which Dr. Cieslar says is the budget of one large hospital and "a drop in the bucket" of the whole budget. Half of the health care budget goes to hospitals, says Dr. Cieslar pointing to the latest $850 million grant by Health Minister Murray Elston to Ontario hospitals. Southwestern Ontario, including Huron County will get $100 million which will pay for 328 chronic beds and 37 acute beds. "We're such a small business I suppose that the hospitals carry the day," he says. The Huron County Health Unit has a budget of $1 million to cover the various services it provides the county such as pre- natal clinics, nutrition services, health education and inspecting area restaurants, stores, pools and the lake, for cleanliness and safety. "That's $22 for each person in the county—the cost of one case of beer. For a couple of cases of beer more, we could be able to do so much more," he says. Brian McBurney, chairman of the Huron County board of health says the board feels that the province is being inflexible by freezing the budgets of both large and small health units at four per cent. "We're the smallest health unit in the province and there's a great difference between four per cent of our budget and four per cent of a much larger budget," says McBurney. • • And; litreause $5aper ,'gent' of Huron's budget is wages, the health unit is .very restricted. McBurney says the 10 health units in Southwestern Ontario have united into a group which has been lobbying the provin- cial government for a year now for larger budgets. After a representative from the Ministry of Health attended the Huron board of health's last meeting, ,McBurney says he was not optimistic that the board would get any more money. "If things don't improve, we'll definitely have to cut services but we're hoping they'll come through with the money," he says. "We're carrying on right now as if we're fully budgetted but lay-offs are a possibility,." McBurney says the comparatively small budgets given to health units are represen- tative of a viewpoint of treating disease rather than preventing it. "If a person is saved from being sick, nobody hears about it but if a person gets a heart transplant, it's in all the newspapers," he says. Dr. Cieslar agrees adding that though it's difficult to measure the role of preven- tion, it's obvious that there are a lot of things the health unit could be doing to pro- mote the health, of people in the county with more money. "Nobody ever thanks you for not having a heart attack. But, it's proven that lifestyle plays a big part in staying healthy. Fifty per cent of all cancers can be prevented. We can do something about our own exposures' to chemicals, have breast examinations and pap smears." "A lot more screening of diseases could be done with the state of knowledge we have. We hear a lot about people scrambl- ing to get into cancer beds in hospitals but we could be helping to prevent those cancers," he says. With bigger budget, Dr. Cieslar says the health unit could also be helping to im- prove parenting skills in the county and therefore reduce the abuse of children by increasing the manpower trained to Iden- tify families at risk. It could also improve its services aimed at the health of county adolescents by in- creasing education about teen pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse and teen suicide. "A high-powered community psychologist would go a tremendous way in Huron County but we don't have the budget to pay for his or her wages," he says. More sup ortive housing services could keep more nursing h greater e could ke by-pass o As far a main actors i It takes drive to be successful By Anne Narejko 4110 MIDDLETON - It takes courage, dedica- tion and a lot of hard work to keep a business going. But starting a business from scratch takes something extra special - a unex- plainable drive. Rosanne Middleton, daughter of Mabel and the late Ross Middleton, not only has what it takes to start a business, but she has kept it going in the competitive Toronto market. Seven years ago, when Ms. Middleton was only 23 -years -old, she left an agency which she had been working with for two years and started R. Middleton Marketing and Design Ltd.Ms. Middleton didn't decide to leave her job because she couldn't stand the work, she simply didn't like her boss, plus she wanted to follow a dream. 4 "I liked the work. 1 was in charge of the publication and art department, but I didn't like my boss," she explained. "I'd work 16 hours a day and get no overtime. "One Friday evening, at about 9 p.m., I wanted to go home and come in the next day and finish, but my boss wouldn't let me, so I quit." Ms. Middleton had a fair idea that she could make it freelancing,and after three months of making ends meet with the help of a waitressing job at Woodbine, she took on freelancing full-time. The amazing thing about Ms. Middleton's decision td change jobs was her attitude._ "I didn't think twice about it " she said. A few Months after Ms. Middleton set ttp a small office in the Kensington Market snhoo.Toottwaipedwiwktake meohe • off herself, she hired two were faced with what others may have con - pressure th assistants. sidered a major setback. Nor ern During those early days, the company concentrated on designing and printing menus and brochures. Then they won a ma- jor contract with Northern Telecom to pro- duce 80 slides per month for their boar- droom presentations. During the first year Ms. Middleton'ex- ected to bill around $15,000 but she billed 60,000. But Ms. Middleton was not content to sit back and be satisfied with this ac- complishment, so she once again went out and used her achievements to land two more major contracts. This time it was Imperial Life and the Royal Bank that she would ac- quire as clients. It was a 'o at this time that Ms. il'rliddleton moved, her business to a home. ~.During the company's third year, they Telecom, the company s first major c tract, withdrew their business in the hopes of producing their own quality work. However, Ms. Middleton did not let this get her down, instead she used that special. drive she possess to keep her going and bought sophisticated typesetting equipment at people 1110' eholistically," he says. so she could -expand into another field. As The fact that health unit employees for Northern Telecom, they soon found that traditionally underpaid. does nothingyaree R. crier ton,Marketing and Design Ltd. did help the quality of the unit's work, says Dr. superior work to what they could produce, Cieslar. and was back as a client in only three "Everyonelar.talks about bow good public Asmonths. R. Middleton health nurses are, but they're dramatically for future Design Ltd.,ns for itwwill continue underpaid even though they've got more Marketing g uallfications than many nurses in to I'd like to hold orle, Ms. Middleton, end lglospitals. They could be making up to "I'd like to get more into hcreative not the way it shouldbe. In eon term, on- lderly people at home out of mes and hospital beds. And, ucation about diet and exercise p more people who require triple erat', s out of the hospital. lth care goes, we're the revention. We try and look the en $3, more a year at a hospital and that's tetttopsge iw th long that's not good for public health," he says.