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The Wingham Advance Times, 1995-05-03, Page 2111E N1 NGNAM AOMAIWk'°lIN,ES Ilospital capacity tapped in March Just one day after the March meeting of the Wingham and Dis- trict Hospital Board, the patient population began to increase to the point where the hospital became full. The March meeting of the board featured discussion on the alarm- ing trend of decreasing occupancy. It was a trend that had continued for four consecutive months. Even though a number of theo- ries were given, hospital chief ex- ecutive officer Lloyd Koch told the the April meeting of the hospi- tal board, last Thursday evening, that the next day the hospital cen- sus hegan en-susbeganto climb to the point were the facility was full and nurs- ing director Bill Woodley had to ask doctors on a daily basis to re- view their patients to see if some - could be discharged to make room for the new admissions that were waiting to come in. "Patient days, as of today, are up 9 1/2 per cent over the same date in April of last year," Koch told the board last Thursday. The 'chief executive officer said that when looking at the statistical report for the year ending March 31, 1995, the patient activity is very similar to last year. "Admissions went down less than two per cent, from 2,098 to 2,058 and total patient days went from 18,507 down to 17,981, a change of 2.8 per cent." said Koch. However, he noted that activity went up by five per cent in the out-patient department, from 15,327 to 16,114 visits this year. There has also been a noticeable shift from active patient days to chronic patient days. "This is because. we have begun admitting patients into the chronic unit rather than waiting for 30 days to elapse on the active unit before transferring them," said, Koch. "We feel, this is a more ap- propriate way to record the activi- ty that we are doing with these pa- tients." The CEO stated that the average length of stay appears to have reached a stable level since very little reduction has occurred from last year to this. year. "However, we will continue to look at specific cases to see wheth- er they can be changed from two- day stays to one -day stays and possibly move to same-day sur- gery as we compare with other hospitals how they handle similar cases," said Koch. He said that it is interesting to note that blood transfusions given at this hospital have dropped by 40 per cent over the year previous. This is likely due to the publicity surrounding infections acquired through blood transfusions in years past and may also be due to a few patients that used to receive transfusions regularly, now not re- quiring them because of the pro- gression of their illness Legion donation...Area branches of the Royal Canadian Legion donated $11,750 to the Wingham and District Hospital for operatin room equipment. The hospital has purchased a cystoscope, a pain medication control pump, and a Stryker bone shaver for the orthopaedic surgery program. Hospital chief executive officer Lloyd Koch and hospital board vice - chairperson Noreen Gnay were on hand to receive the funds from Eric Ross of branch 218 Brussels, Gord Haggitt of branch 420 Blyth, Ed Pyette of branch 309 Lucknow, Gerry Brewer of branch 307 Howick, Zone C-1 commander and district C hospital chairman John A. MacDonald, and Andy Rodger of Branch 180 Wingham. Hospital gets plugged in Wingham and District Hospital chief executive officer Lloyd Koch told the April meeting of the hospital board last Thursday That over 100 people were taking com- puter courses sponsored by the hospital. He added in his report to the board that they are offered at F. E. Madill Secondary School and run from April 10 to June 29. "Interest is extremely high and you can hear young and old staff members aliike discussing they have learned over the coffee table at work," said Koch. "Our staff want to be ready when computers arrive in their departments here in the hospital." He told the board that the hospi- tal had met with three companies to hear their presentation on their hospital -wide computer systems, with two companies providing a demonstration. The chief execu= tive officer added that more dem- onstrations and site visits are planned over the next two weeks. "We hope to have a recommen- dation for the board to approve at next month's meeting," said Koch. He told the board that the last week of March was busy. On March 29, the hospital hosted Frazer Bell, the new CEO of the Huron -Perth District Health Coun- cil. Koch said that Bell met with the facility's department heads and took a tour of the Hospital. "His understanding of how we provide health care at Wingham and District Hospital is important if good plans are to be created by the DHC for the delivery of health care in our counties," he said. The hospital CEO added that he • also addressed the Town of Wing - List of Advertisers to be found in this week's ebe 1t i; ingbantc 2 .[sand= (i mt Adrienne's Hair Design Adreach Ainslies All Wall Construction Aquafine A. R. MacDonald Construction Askes Bros. Construction Bakelaar Jewellers Bluevale Kountry Kitchen Blyth Festival Singers B & M Roofing Brian Rintoul Auctions . Canadian Tire Cardiff & Mulvey Real Estate Christines Clothes Closet Crystal's Aesthetics Coldwell Banker Cowan Printing Culligan Real Estate Dan's Repair Service Dave's Aluminum The Decor Shoppe DeJong Plumbing Doanne Raymond Gibson's Men's & Boy's Wear Great China House Greg Ward EM Windows Hanna's Mens and Boys Wear Hart Ford Mercury Homestead Group Home Homuth Optometrists Howson &Howson Ltd. Howick Homes Huron & Bruce Machining Huron County Health Unit Huron County Board of Educ Huron County Housing Authority Huron County Learning Disabilities JBR Transit Jake's Auction Service Joe Reinhardt Construction Joe's Automotive John Cullen Chev Olds John Nowell Carpentry Kells Insurance • Keith Fitzsimmons Reel Estate Larry's Vao Shop Len Metcalfe Auction Ltd. Linc Russworm Auctions Lucknow Farm Supply MacGowan Nursing Homes (Braemar) Mclntee Real Estate McPhee IDA Pharmacy Middieton's Home Furnishings Mom's Place Montgomery Mechanical Moran Mechanical Mrs, B's Baskets Norm Wadam Haulage Paul Klopp, MPP Ptetch Electric Psychic Answers Reid & Associates Rosalinds Fashion Avenue Ross Mitchell Cabinets Salvation Army Snyder Photographic Studio Spar-Klean Janitorial Stainton Hardware Sytlette Beauty Salon Te -em Farms The Toy Shoppe The Workshop The 2 Step Token Treasures Township of Howick Town of Wingham Tracey Sifts 30 Minute Photo and Trophies Vance's Guardian Pharmacy Wallace Ballagh Auctions Ward & Uptigrove Wayne Mann Real Estate Wendt's Jewellery & Gifts West Wawanosh Insurance Wingham Chiropractic Clinic Wingham Drive -In Cleaners Wingham Horticultural Soolety WDCLA Wingham Golf & Curling Club Wingham Minor Hockey Ass. Wingham Tennis Club 2ehr's ismommemamen ham's' annual forum on March 29. He reported that he outlined devel- opments in health care, both in Canada and the United States, as well what the local hospital is do- ing to stay abreast of these, devel- opments. Koch said the hospital was visit- ed by the perinatal outreach team from St. Joseph's Hospital in Lon- don on March 30. "During this full-day scheduled visit they reviewed the quality of our obstetrical program," he said. "They will be providing us with a written report in about six weeks." In his monthly report to the board, Koch said that about 275 school students had already signed up for the annual tour of the hospi- tal, this set for Friday, May 12. "We will be setting up 12 sta- tions to demonstrate what each of our departments do,". he said. "We will also include a -career informa- tion display in the classroom." The CEO said that if any teach- ers want to sign up for the remain- ing available spaces, they should contact Bill Woodley for more in- formation. Official plan still under development PAT HALPIN Special to the Advance -Times WALKERTON - A new official plan for Bruce'County will take an extra year to develop and get pro- vincial approval, thanks to addi- tional requirements under the re- cently -proclaimed Bill 163. The province has listed Bruce as one of about a dozen "prescribed" counties, and ordered it to have a new official plan in place by Dec. 31, 1997. "This will require additional work to be undertaken to address, the requirements of the new Act," said Agriculture, Tourism, and Planning chairman Rick Gilbert at the April 18 session of Bruce County council. "The provincial government is requiring greater detail, and more environmentally oriented policies in new Official Plans." Planning director Malcolm McIntosh said the county's previ- ous target was to have the official plan ready by the spring of 1996. He predicted it will take the prov- ince up to a year to review and ap- prove the plan once it is submit- ted, but said Bruce should have "no problem" in meeting the dead- line. Bruce County's planning com- mittee met with provincial offi- cials last month to discuss some of its concerns about planning as- pects of the omnibus Bill 163. From the meeting, Bruce won the right to phase in new planning pol- icies under its Official Plan. "We would look at implement- ing those over time, based on the resources we have available and certainly the level of support infor- mation that the province is able to give us through their various min- istries," said McIntosh. McIntosh said the goal is to end up with policies that reflect Bruce County concerns, rather than have policies designed to solve prob- lems facing urban areas with large-scale development. With the planning components in Bill 163 now in force, McIntosh said there is no point in delaying "a game plan" for dealing with the changes. He warned, though, that the new legislation also makes the planning process "'more onerous" for individuals. • "If you're coming in to make an application, there are county is- sues you're going to have to deal with, there's local issues, and there's provincial interests. You might as well know what those are up front, and you might as well try to get all that • information up front," said McIntosh. East Wawanosh Township By-laws passed East Wawanosh Township council passed its drainage superintendent by-law and its chief building officer by-law at its regular meeting last Tuesday evening. The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) offers the ser- vices of Jeff King as the township's drainage superintendent for 1995. The remuneration was agreed upon by the MVCA, Jeff King and the township council. Because of the three-way agreement, there was a question as to why' the by-law was required. It was pointed out that in order to get drainage grants, a drainage superintendent by-law was needed. Arnold Bruce was named as the chief building officer for the town- ship for 1995. Previously, he had always been appointed by resolution. Parking lot paved East Wawanosh has agreed to provide $3,000 for the paving of the parking lot at the Belgrave Community Centre. The total project will cost about $9,100. The Belgrave Kinsmen Club has agreed to pay for a portion of the project, as has the senior citizens group of the village. The paving will be completed when Lavis Construction of Clinton is paving County Road 20, later this year. The parking lot will be prepared for paving by crews from both East Wawanosh and Morris Townships. The Belgrave Kinsmen Club will also ask Morris Township to help with the project. Hospital public forum The Wingham and District Hos- pital has organized a public forum for Wednesday, June 7. Hospital director of nursing Bill Woodley said that the public for- um will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Carling Terrace in Wingham, beginning at 7 p.m. The forum will be on "The Right to Decide" issue. Ministry of Health representa- tives 'will discuss and answer ques- tions on the Consent to Treatment Act, the Substitute Decisions Act, and the Advocacy Act. Woodley said these three pieces of legislation are important to eve- ryone and he encouraged the members of the board to attend. The director of nursing tgld the board that 10 of the hospital's reg- istered nurses had completed the two-year critical care program of- fered locally through Conestoga College. An appreciation ceremony for the 10 RNs will be held Sunday afternoon at the RPN school. The 10 nurses who completed the course were Barb Pletch, Mary Sanders, Marilyn Vanderwoude, Laurie Bell, Patti Rozendal, Judy Schumacher, Margaret Ann Orr, Linda Wall, Joan Adams, and Debbie Ritchie. IYENESIAKANYA.1 95 The Blyth Festival Singers prescnr A Nostalgic Musical L 'Tribute to the 1940's 0's Saturday May 13 Goderich Twp. Hall Holmesville VICTORY TEA 2:00 pm -$5 • Entertainment " Sing -a -long * Music CABARET - 7:30 pm -$15 * '1939 Casino Band° *Buffet Dinner ° Dancing Tickets Available At: Campbell's Photo (Goderich) 519-524-7532 Bluewater Office Eqpt. (Wingham) 519-357-1554 Something Special (Exeter) 519-235-1252 Crossroads Gifts (Clinton) 519-482-5855 Blyth Festival 519-523-4345 Limited Number of Tickets For Each Show - Call Nowl Support Your Community SHOP LOCALLY IQs �.wyfrr moi;;:`�,}� ram -ram Xletitentent Centre Residential Building • All on one floor • Community oriented care centre Health support services • Beauty and Barber Shop . • Accommodation available • Caring, courteous & understanding staff WINGHAM - 357-3430 0 Well Look-ee Here ! a .0 Only 500 ya say? Yup!! Absolutely Everything in the store (That is, accept our clerks) Friday, May 5th From 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at 288 Josephine St. Wingham (519) 357-3757 COMMUNITY CALENDAR Sponsored by: • INSURANCE BROKERS .(Wingham) Ltd. Gorrie, 335-3525 • Wingham, 357-2636 "INSURING TOMORROW TODAY" W. H. (Bill) KEIL WED. MAY 3 -Fourth Annual Performance Showcase, 7 p.m. at F.E. Madill THURS MAY 4 0 ° Back education course at Wingham & District Hospital gym, 7-9 p.m.'Participants require a family doctors referral to attend the course; also to run May 10 and 17 •Hot luncheon and bake table at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Wingham, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 'Fourth Annual Performance Showcase, 7 p.m. F.E. Madill, FRIDAY MAY f% • Fourth Annual Performance Showcase at F.E. Madill SAT MAY B -Formosa Home and Hobby Show end Sale at Formosa Community Centre, 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. •Teen dance at Wingham Legion, 8 p.m. -12 a.m. Sponsored by Wingham Kinsmen, $5 admission. °Clean Sweep Event, sponsored by your local Wingham merchants SUN MAY 7 -Singles dance a Wingham Legion, 7-11 p.m. *Final Service to Trinity Anglican Church, Belgrave will begin at 4 p.m. Everyone welcome MON Y •Bluevale seniors open , BluevalMAe Hg all, 8 p.m. Everyone welcome euchre MS MAY 9 •East Wawanosh Township Council meeting, 7:30 p.m. Township office, Belgrave We Represent • Farm Residential • Auto • Competitive Rates • Inspection Service howick