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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-11-30, Page 7Some question about the future ,,, GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER* 1978 Doctors urged to use hospital laboratory BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER A report at Monday • evening's meeting of the • board of Alexandra Marine afld General Hospital that staff at the hospital laboratory may , haye to be laid off unless ' waysand means can be found to fully utilize the facilities was described as "shocking" by board member Gordon Crabb. Crabb was referring to the suggestions that some ,of the local doctors are sending lab work to .private laboratories in London rather than utilizing the lab at AM&G. Crabb wanted to know what advantages there were to going out of town to have this work done. Dr. Ken Lambert told the meeting some lab reports are actually returned more quickly from private labs in London • than from the local laboratory process at AM&G. These are more specialized, complicated lab procedures which aren't done right at Goderich but are completed in a Stratford lab working in co-operation with AM&G. Dr. Lambert said in 'Some instances, the channels through AM&G can take up to one week while a London lab can have the results back to the doctors in Goderich within 24 hours. "If there's any strange result, they will call within eight hours and let you know," commented Dr. Lambert. "We spent considerable time at the medical meeting on this matter," Councillor Haydon speaks out PUC convenience is backdoor politics reported Dr. Michael Conlon, president of the medical staff. "The vast majority of lab procedures can be done right here in our own lab and the medical staff must take some responsibility for being possibly a little remiss in not fully utilizing the facilities available here." HIGH PRAISE In a written report to the board on the same subject, Dr. Conlon ex- pressed on behalf of the Goderich medical team" high praise for the local laboratory staff. "The laboratory staff were to ..be highly com- mended for the high standard of performance attained over the years," wrote Dr. Conlon. "It was further recognized that any falling off in these standards would be highly detrimental to the overall functioning and clinical care of the hospital and would be particularly critical when dealing with acutely ill patients who often require immediate transfusion, bichemical and haematological BY JEFF SEDDON What ' the Goderich Public Utilities Com- mission calls con- venience councillor Elsa Haydon calls "backdoor politics". Haydon took •exception to a deal cooked up between the .town and the utility that permits the sale of a house the PUC owns but can't sell because of the town's zoning bylaw. The house is on the corner of Waterloo and St. Patrick Streets and abuts the PUC garage. The utility owns the house and used it as Dave Rolston 's home when Stickers on sale Dec. 1 Transportation and Communications Minister James Snow recently announced there will be.. no increase in motor . vehicle licence fees for the 1979 licensing year. Red renewal stickers will go on sale at 318 outlets throughout the' province on 'Friday, December I. The fee schedule will remain at $30 for a four - cylinder car; $45 for a six -cylinder car and $60 for eight -cylinder automobiles with an engine displacement of less than 6.5 litres. Eight -cylinder cars with an engine displacement of more than 6.5 litres, registered after December 1, 1977 will.cost the owner $80. 1VL0'torcycle registration fees are $20. The 1978 registration fees for privately -owned passenger cars and motorcycles in the northern half of the province will remain at $10. The 1979 registration fee for , ,mopeds and trailers remains at $5, as docs the $10 fee for snowmobiles and historic vehicles. These fees are the same in northern and southern Ontario. In making the an nouncement, Snow said, "if each car owner in the 'province would remember to purchase their •vehicle renewal in December of January, we could virtually eliminate the lineups at issuing offices in late Febru'ary." P goof of insurance form§, required as part of the • renewal procedure, will '',he available at all ATC,, offices, licence rehewal offices and liquor store outlets throughout Ontario. Rolston was PUC manager, Rolston retired and the present manager Al Lawson does not use the house and the utility wants to sell it. The problem for the utility was that when it expanded the PUC garage on Waterloo Street it used up a portion of the lot the home sits on. Because it owned the land the use was permitted but ,now the lot is too small for resale. Under the town's official plan the lot size is too small for the house and because of that the sale is being delayed. The town of Goderich however is exempt from its own laws and using that the PUC conveyed title of the home to the town for the town to sell. In a letter to council the commission said that for convenience the utility would give the house to the town, the town would ignore its law, and sell the house. Council took the deal one step further and kept the money putting it in a special trust fund tobe used on the next PUC debenture. Haydon said the PUC move showed little courtesy for councbl asking that the town handle the sale by averting its own bylaws. She said the utility handled the matter in a "typical fashion" adding that if council wanted to be treated like "little people" that was fine but she wanted no part of it. of it. Town clerk Larry McCabe said the move by the PUC was merely for convenience. He said the utility had three options to try to get relief from the lot size. He said one was to ask the province to give the utility per- mission to sell, one was to go to the town's com- mittee of adjustment and the third was to give the property to council to sell. He said the PUC had a man that wanted to buy the house and took the route it did to try to close the deal. Mayor Deb Shewfelt pointed out to council that the move would give the town control of the proceeds from the sale. He said the house was selling for $35,000 and the town planned to keep the money in trust to be used against a debenture on a hydro substation the utility was planning to build. He said the sub- station was estimated to cost $135,000 and that the money from the house would earn another three or four thousand in in- terest requiring the town to debenture only $95,000. Haydon said she never questioned the legality of the move but was against the practice. She said the In a Class of its own! move by the town to keep the money appeared to be a practice of "one up- ' manship". Councillor Dave Gower. said he had to "take his hat off" to Haydon for her determination. He said he had served eight years on council with her and she still had •the "fortitude to battle for her principles". But Gower added that he was in favor of the deal. Deputy -reeve Eileen Palmer said she agreed with Haydon that the move was "backdoor politics" but added that in this instance she had to support the motion to take the house and sell it to the prospective buyer. Ina recorded vote Haydon was the only member of council to vote against the takeover and subsequent sale. Coun- cillors Stan Profit and John Doherty and reeve Bill Clifford were absent from the meeting. ' workup, together with blood gases etc." "The medical staff fully agreed to support their own hospital laboratory in any way possible," continued Dr. Conlon in his written report. "Every effort would be made at future laboratory co'mmitte.e meetings to discuss mutual problems and concerns, thereby hopefully maintaining the high standard and quality of this most important department of our hospital." Dr. Conlon went on: "Individual members of the medical staff were asked to recognize that it seemed unreasonable to dispatch routine nine to five laboratory work to distant private laboratories and then to call upon local hospital laboratory personnel to perform urgent work in the middle of the night." "Isn't it true that the chairman of the lab committee sends work out of town?" asked board chairman Jo Berry. "Everybody jumps and screams about getting the finances to keep this hospital running but they -' don't want to run the work through the local hospital," commented board member Jim McCaul. NEW ATTITUDES Dr. Bruce Thomson suggested there may not be as many lab procedures being done these days as in recent years. "Far fewer lab tests are ordered by newer graduates in medicine," said Dr. Thomson. "This represents a significant change in the use of the lab. New doctors are much more selective about the lab procedures they order." Dr. Thomson also pointed out there are six fewer physicians. in Goderich than in months gone by and that many of those doctors were physicians with different attitudes toward laboratory medicine. "The doctors are very concerned and very surprised about this news that the work at the lab is decreasing," admitted Dr. Thomson. "We don't want to lose good people. The lab committee will really have to look into that matter." Chairman Berry asked the medical staff to en- courage new doctors coming. into town to utilize the local laboratory facilities as much as possible. Why Not..! This Christmas Give a Gift Certificate from: CARPET CARE Rugs expertly cleaned Phone 524-2440 D Mit 13 Pr c , I INTERNATIONAL LIMITED For Christmas gift giving, give "Ports"! . 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