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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-04-25, Page 1-; • 1,1144tiet1,1 0041g,r44444 •11, 'lesventr, y vth. • • , r COOKIE DAY IS COMING—Brownies Kim Marr, Kara Neil, Tharen Keil (kneeling), Wendy McBride and Anita Massey and Guide Michelle Cummings, together with all other members of the Wingham Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders, wi Wake to the streets selling Girl GUide cookies this Saturday morning. Cookie Day, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon, is an annual fundraising event for the various branches of the Girl Guide movement. Hospital board shorts The Wingham and District Hospital board spent some time at its regular meeting last week • debating procedures used during an in -camera session April 5 at which the new building project was officially ap- proved. Board member Archie Hill questioned the validity of the motion accepting the tender, noting he had risen on a point of order at the time which had not been properly dealt with. Another member, Robert Pike, also expressed concern over the way discussion had been cut off to force a vote on the building project. Administrator Norman Hayes, who acts as secretary to the board, told Mr. Hill he had been out of order in raising his point of order, and read a lenghthy and ob- scure passage from Robert's Rules of Order which he claimed supported his case. However Mr. Hill disagreed with the in- terpretation, saying he still feels there was a breach of conduct on the part of the board. "It's up to the board what it wants to do with it." No further action was taken, although M,r. Hayes did agree to revise the minutes of that meeting which several , 'board members claimed did not accurately reflect all the discussion. Correction Board member John Schenk raised a question about the reasons given for the bids on the building project having come in 20 per cent above the estimates, after the board had been assured they probably would be 20 per cent below. 'When he asked the question during the in - camera meeting April 5, he explained, he was told it was due to inflation _and having missed the best bidding period last fall. As a result, he said, some board mem- bers felt badly that they might have delayed the project and caused ad- ditional expense. However he -noted that since that meeting he had checked with two people in the building industry, in- cluding one who bid on the project, and they laughed at that explanation, saying prices this spring are probably the lowest they have been in three years and bids would have been even • higher last fall. "That's one point ef view," Administrator Norman Hayes told him. But he • maintained that the ex- planation given earlier by himself and the architect is also supported by the Ministry of Health, based on its experience with tendering projects. 0-0-0 • In response to a request made at a previous board meeting, Mr. Hayes presented statistics on the number of patients trans- ferred to other hospitals during the past six years. He said the numbers varied up and down over the years, A small error crept into the tax study which ap- peared in last week's issue of The Advance -Times. The figure given at the bottom of the second column for the town portion of the 1984 tax bill should have been $442.29, not $364.89, which was the correct figure ad- justed for • comparison purposes in the following paragraph. Talks resume as strike continues Negotiations •between Premium -Lloyd and the union representing about 140 striking workers at the Wingham door factory resumed Tuesday in a new attempt to end the five -week- old strike. Negotiators for the two sides in the dispute met at Kitchener on Tuesday morning, with the possibility that if a settlement was not reached that day there would be further meetings later in the week. The two sides previously met April 10, but talks broke down over the issue of wages, with the union asking for 55 cents an hour increase in both years of a two-year contract while the company offered no.., increase in the first year and 20 cents in the second. with more transfers for some types of problems and fewer for others. "It's very hard to say we transferred More people in one particular area or why," he said, concluding he had reviewed the figures with the medical records department and there did not appear to be any clear trends. However board member Robert Pike disagreed,' suggesting the figures which showed transfers of 79, 167, 174, 153, 200 and 218 patients per year between 1978-79 and 1983 did show a rising trend. "It seems the number of transfers is increasing and the number of patients is declining," indicating a higher percentage of trans- fers, he suggested, but, there was no further response to the question. 0-0-0 • Although the new Canada Health Act has already been passed into law by Parliament, the hospital board plans to go ahead with a seminar to study the Act. The suggestion for a study session came after members of the medical staff raised concerns about the new Act during last month's meeting. Board' Chairman Mary Vair asked last week hew many board members were in- terested and about a half- dozen indicated they would attend. "What would a seminar do?" Lucknow-area member Frank MacKenzie inquired, noting that the Act receiyed unanimous consent by Parliament and "a lot of doctors" are also in favOr of it. However Dr. •1346-iti7 Hanlon, who was the only member of the medical staff at the meeting, said people are mistaken if they think this law, which cracks down on user fees and extra Please turn to Page 5 Blind are willing to address groups The blind have a story to tell and have decided they need an audience. That is why the Huron -Perth Advisory Board for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind decided at its April 11 meeting to make speakers available to church, service groups and other organizations, large or small: These speakers would tell true life stories about their own experiences with blindness and offer a better understanding of the blind and the CNIB and what it does for the blind with the money that is donated. Any groups interested in securing a speaker for a meeting should contact one of the following members of ,the Huron - Perth board about a month before the event: Blyth, Doug Howson at 523-9391; Wingham, Lloyd Casernore at 357-35E, and Brussels, Mrs, Jack MacLeod, 887-6047. Or interested parties may call Doug McCallum at the London CNIB office at the toll-free number 1-800-265-4127. , DAY CENTRE ANNIVERSARY—The Wingham Day Centre for the Homebound has been in operation for five years as of last week and participants and statY held a small celebration last Thursday. Hilda Sheerer of Ethel, a lady who has attended the centre for the full five years, and Alfred Knight of Brussels did the honors by cutting the cake. They are watched by Pam Williams, assistant director, and cook Marg Pollock. The -b0. HospaU the about fly' The bgge f the. Winghajn. nd Matriet Orar oofvmedor404.4? fur nt from laaf*' waa:presepted to the :finance committee ,during the regular boardAeeting last week, *tabled no surpri*atict was '440:000.ed with little diSOUSSie it is strictly'for the operation of the hospital and does not reflect the more than $1.5 million to be spent this year op the construction of a new einergenerand out-patient wing, POW Chairman Robert Pike reviewed the budget in, detail, explaining where the hospital gets its money and where it is spent. By far the Majority of the revenue comes from the Ontario Health Ministrk, which provide ,$.5 Million in basic funding and an additiallanalfinillion dollars in other types of funding, through OHIP payments and in fun- ding for the RNA training school and the am- bulance della ;: ent. The remaining dollars come from patient fees, Workmesfys Compensation and other such payments, revenue from the cafeteria and 1;10017 and interest earned on the,,hospital investments. : The ministry funding for this year is guaranteed, Mr. Pike said, but he repeated his 'eoncerns exprOssed previously that unless the hospital can reverse a trend of declining ac - es *63 thII tivity 0 may face cuts in the future. He hope; the new building will spark an increase,in activity, he said, though he noted that would tint show *until next year, after construction has been co'mploted. By far the largest proportion of the budget is spent son salaries and wages, which together with paid benefits account for about 78 per cent of the total expenditure. Salaries forf nurses, technicians and other staff associated with the medical aspect of the hospital account for nearly half of the total budget, with housekeeping and administrative salaries and wages accounting for an ad- ditional 20 per cent. Most of the rest of the budget is spent on supplies and related expenses, which together add up to nearly $1 million. The budget for operating the ambulance 'department is about $200,000, with an ad- ditional $83,000 going toward the operation of the RNA training school. Overall, Mr. Pike said, the budget predicts a surplus for the year in the range of $254,000. (Under the BQND program created by the Health Ministry several years ago, hospitals are permitted to accumulate surpluses which they can then use toward capital projects, but they are not allowed to incur a deficit.) One concern was expressed by the board's vice chairman, Hans Kuyvenhoven, who asked why nothing was set aside toward the roughly et • balf-millian-dollar en Oboe exPeeted for bins and a new -ray machina. for the • addll494, ,told that has not been included 111 MO' bildgefbeCaUse the money is not expeetOtithe spent until next year, In other Wetness, at the start of the meting board members heard a presentationlirom the hospital's purchasing director, John De DWI', on purchasing polies. Mr. De Boer told the board that virtuallrall purchases of everything from medical supplieli to food, linen and paper towels are made InbUlk through a central purchasing bureau representing nearly 200 hospitals across Ontario.. Some day-to-day purchases in small quan- tities are made locally, he said, but all major purchases go through the bureau, The price advantage which is gained by teaming up with other hospitals in this way allows the hospital to save tens of thousands of dollars each year on its supply budget, he said, while at the same time avoiding the cost of carrying large inventories. Sometimes deliveries to the hospital are made through a local distributor, he said,.while other times shipments may come directly from the company which won the contract. Board Treasiirer Gordon Baxter estimated the hospital spends between $700,000 and $800,000 per year on supplies, including hydro. Going back to finish high school can be a rewarding experience Consider the high school drop-out. ng bid a premature hafemc41- to "s, clawoorn, 'either* ChotWor necessity, the chances are 'high that sooner o later he or she) will find the lack, of a diploma standing between him and the ladder of suc- cess, locked forever into a dead-end job. There is another option, of course: returning to'--ingA school to fulfill the graduation requirements. ;But that could. mean having to quit a job which, though it " may not be what he wants, does pay the bills, while spending a couple' of years making up forfeited credits. And besides, it's em- barrassing to think of going back to school with other students so much . younger. He would be out of place, a freak! As the song says, "It ain't necessarily so." In fact, it has never been easier for a high school drop- out to obtain the credits required for a Grade 12 diploma, and more and more ex -students are taking ad- vantage of the opportunity to get the piece of paper needed to unlock the door into a chosenfiel. TheMinistry of Education has paved the way by per- mitting principals to,award "mature credits" to students returning after a stint in the workforce, meaning a typical Grade 10 drop-out can graduate with just one make-up year rather than two. There also is a new in- terest on the part of many high schools to encourage adults to come back and take courses, either to complete the requirements for • a diploma, to upgrade their qualifications with some of the new computer or data processing -courses, or just for general interest. The program is still in its infancy locally, but in other areas has started to catch hold. The Waterloo board of education, for example, started promoting its mature student program three years ago with eight students; this year it 'has 250 adults at- tending school full-time. NOT A NEW PROGRAM The idea of bringing students back to finish high school is not a new one, explained Bob Gavreluk, director of commercial education at Madill and the teacher in charge of the mature students program. The opportunity has always been there and the school has- had a handful of adults over the years come in to tae courses. • pw ver this is the .first Year the school has started to "push" the idea, with thetull backing of the school board. "The Huron County board gave me some time off to look at other schools and see how they are setting up their programs. ,Now Huron County wants to encourage adults to take more interest in the schools." The program developed at Madill will serve as a model for other high schools in the county. , It is a good time for it, Mr. Gavreluk noted, because with declining enrolment,the schools have the facilities and staff available — and with the high rate of unemployment,' many people have the time. OPEN TO ANYONE Although many returning students come back to get their diplomas, that is not the ' only purpose of the program, Mr. Gavreluk said.' Anyone who is interested is welcome to enroll in any course where space is available. "They can come back to one class, two, three or a full day, whether or ' not they have obtained a high school diploma." . He added that he expects over time interest will snowball. "As more come back, word's going to spread: 'Hey, it's fun coming back; not a big, traumatic ex- perience!'." One concern of returning students is "How will I fit in?", he noted, but the ex- perience of those who have -- come back indicates few if any problems. The returnees are readily accepted by the other students and the teachers are delighted to have them, since they pose no discipline problem and their maturity and good • work habits serve as a model for the younger students. Not all returning students have been successful. Some have come back only to quit again, for one reason or another, after a few days or weeks. Those who have stayed, however, have done very well, Mr. Gavreluk said. They have succeeded far better than when they at- tended 'the first -time, because now they know what. they want and are willing to work 'for it. One of the ways the Education Ministry has iiiialagirssompostass. MATURE STUDENT—Ray Tilbrook (seated), a member of the nursing staff at the Wingham and District Hospital, is upgrading his qualifications by completing courses at the F. • E. Madill Secondary School under a program for mature students. Mr. Tilbrook reported the hospital has accommodated him by changing his shifts to make it possible for him to attend the high school in the mornings. One of the classes he is taking is a computer course from Grade 10 data processing teacher Gerry Edwards. made it easier for adults to get their high school diplomas is by permitting the issuing of "mature credits" to returning students. These are issued dt the discretion of the school principal to returning students who have been out of school for at least one year. The credits, which acknoWledge experience\ gained in the workforce as well as any other ,training taken along the way, mean it is not such a long grind for a returning student to finish Grade 12, Mr. Gavreluk explained. Someone who dropped out at age 16 and has been away for a few years and now finds he needs Grade 12 to get into an apprenticeship program is not necessarily facing two or three years more in high school. He can be granted mature credits, making it possible to qualify for a diploma with just one more year, perhaps part-tiine, of classroom work. Right now a student needs 27 credits to graduate, Mr. Gavreluk explained. The principal is allowed to grant up to 12 mature ' credits which, added to previously acquired credits can add up to a total of 23. Ministry regulations require that a returning student complete at least four regular credits to graduate. Currently there are just four adult students enrolled at Madill, but Mr. Gavreluk said he is hopeful that as word gets around more will consider coming back. The idea of adults attending high school may sound strange at first, but he is convinced it has the potential to benefit not only the returning students but also the regular • students and the school. Not least among its at- tractions is the fact that high school courses are free, he noted. People are paying for the schools through their taxes, and they might as well use them. If interest grows here the way it has in some other areas, it might eventually be possible to form special classes for the adult students and design accelerated courses, running for 10 weeks at a time. This could make the classes more at- tractive by cutting down on the time commitment required. These courses are totally separate from the night school classes at the high school, Mr. Gavreluk em- phasized. The night school offers , only "interest" classes and does not provide /--r--Th any formal credits toward a diploma. The next session of adult courses will start at the same time as the regulr school opening in Sep- tember. Anyone interested is invited to contact Mr. Gavreluk or the F. E. Madill Secondary School for further information. Next week: Two students who carne back (and are glad they did).