HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-05-23, Page 1.j:
RNA GRADUATION—The 41st graduation exercises for the
Registered Nursing Assistants training school at the Wingham and
District Hospital were held last Friday at the school. The 1984
graduating class, and its instructors are: back, Mary Beth
Chamberland, Jane Haid, Virginia Petrie, Marian Hallahan, Ronda
•
Warner, Jacqueline Brower, Darlene Patterson, Lrhia 1,�eentr
Shelley Thom, Sharon Barton, Brenda Riehl, Jafxt , Sud
McLean, • Adrienne Nleuwenhoff, Marlon (Taylor) Arms ' fig, fro
Cindy Moor Peggy McLellan, Laurel Marzetti, Wen�dy,9 a,Ia"comb
Barbara Cameron, Jeani Ellacott: `•
Hospital to seek legal
over problems Wtth pari
The Wingham and District
Hospital 'plans to seek legal
advice on the possibility of
taking action against its
architect over his failure to
inform it about the parking
requirements in the town
zoning bylaw.
That oversight has held up
the hospital for more than a
month in its attempt to ob-
tain a building permit for a
new es 'r gen y _ and_out-
patient wing and led
to a
frantic scramble to find the
rd
jiaring acre**
reyui _ �� .
the permit coin be issued.
Presently the hospital
board is pinning its hopes on
Ieasing land from Sacred
Heart Church as a short-
term solution to the problem.
At a meeting last week the
board approved a proposal
for a five-year lease at$2,400
per year, with an option to
renew for a further five
years at $3,000 annually.
However it still must
obtain agreement from
church authorities before it,
can get the permit, and then
spend' an estimated $15,000 to
$20,000 developing the land
for parking.
Several board members
suggested the architect, who
is -receiving a -fee-of $120,000
project, should
be
for the p � ,
. he , ..out " with
expected t0.
ex 1P
Pe
; an.
theme csosis, as Well- asp• �y
. additional donstruction costs
incurred as a result of the
delay, and passed a motion
instructing the hospital to
seek a legal opinion on the
matter.
A discussion of the parking
problem occupied a major
portion of the board meeting,
with several board members
questioning whether the
hospital is confident it will be
allowed to use the Sacred
Heart property for parking.
John Schenk said he un-
derstood there had been
some objections from neigh-
bors over the proposal and
asked whether this might not
delay approval. However
Administrator Norman
Hayes assured him the
.proposed use l;.ada well with ,
o to
e e toiup;
,rat.
h
zoning bylaw, and' this was
later confirmed by Ian.
Moreland, chairman of the
Wingham Planning Advisory
Committee.
Mr. Moreland .said the
committee had received one
objection, . but noted there is
Motorcycle accidents
injure three on weekend
Three persons were in-
jured in motorcycle ac-
cidents around the Wingham
area over the holiday week-
end, however fortunately
none of .the injuries were
serious.
A Seaforth man, Kenneth
Wright, 37, was admitted to
the Wingham and District
Hospital following an ac-
cident . on County Road 12
Saturday afternoon.
Police reported that Mr.
Wright was rounding a curve
1.8 km south of Highway 87
when he lost control of the
motorcycle and ended up in
the ditch.
He was taken to the
hospital by a motorist, where
he was admitted for treat-
ment and later discharged.
In a separate accident
Saturday afternoon, Paul
England, 17, of RR. 1, Luck -
now, and Darlene Kalish, 18,
of Wroxeter received minor
injuries when the motorcycle
on which they were riding
was struck by a truck.
Wingham police reported
that the motorcycle, driven
by Mr. England, was north-
bound on Josephine Street
when a pickup truck pulled
out of Park Drive, turned
south and struck it. Police.
were later searching for the
truck driver, who left the
scene after stopping to talk
to Mr.. England, and they
reported Tuesday that
Wilfred Weiler, 49, of Blyth
has been charged with
failing to remain at the. scene
of an accident.
The motorcyclists were
treated at the Wingham'
hospital. Damage in the
mishap was.estimated at
$1,000 to the motorcycle and
$100 to the truck.
In another accident the
same day, a Gorrie-area
couple were injured when
their vehicle ran off the road
after swerving to avoid a
deer. Police reported that
Charles Kenneth Gillies, 47,
and Fredamae Gillies were
driving along Highway 87,
2.4 km east of County Road
30, when a deer crossed the
highway, forcing them into a
ditch where the vehicle, a
STRETCHING FOR DISTANCE, Jamie MacKay takes
off In the Mite boys' long jump during a field and track
day held at the Wingham Public School last week.
1977 Chev pickup, rolled
over.
They were taken to the'
Wingham and- District
Hospital by automobile for
treatment.
nothing in the bylaw to
prevent that lot being used
for parking. He said the
committee has recom=
mended a building .permit
for the hospital wing be
issued• when church , , authorities sign the lease. did not knovw what would l'
He noted, though, that the happeniif. thehospitalwentto He also reported that addrestes
Arohie Hill, who had earlierf eft l Vr
rallies behind
ital building project
Dpite their differences and appointed a new '....
over details of the project chairman.
and procedures used in Asked by another board
. getting it approved, mem- member, Robert Middleton,
bore_ of the Wingham and to explain his reasons, Mr.
.:pistrict Hospital Board have Hill said he was disturbed
rallied behind the hospital's that neither the property
expansion -plans. committee, the management
e, Following a lengthy committee nor the board as a
ori discussion behind closed whole were being consulted
nt, doors, last week, lasting well about important develop-
s, into the night, the board meats.
emerged presenting a united He noted that he had only
front; found out through the grape -
In a. motion passed vine, two weeks after -the
following the in -camera fact, that the hospital was
session, the board, while unable to get a building per -
recognizing the "great mit because of a shortage of
frustration" which some parking, and said there had
members have experienced, been no consultation with the
proclaimed its "unanimous committee about the
endorsement" of all efforts demolition of buildings to
to proceed with a fundraising. make way for the new ad -
campaign and bring the clition.
project to_ a successful Asked to reconsider his
conclusion. resignation so as not to
be no problems ;phis time Administrator Norman deepen the'split at a time
either. , Bayee,: who is also secretary , when the board is trying to
Explaining that an ar- to the board, explained that raise money for the new
chitect ob..be held the, hoard went over the wing, Mr. Hill at first
an •
responsible ,for the_ cost of Whole projectagain.in
errors : arising from .faulty atttempt to get. unanimity,
design '1 r Hayes said he Wand this time it was success -
refused,
refused, saying that a
mistrust had developed and
he was not sure he would be
good value to the board.
Hans Kuyvenhoven, board
vice chairman and chairman
of the management com-
mittee, said he too had
"heard from the street"
about the parking problem,
adding that having to find
out through the grapevine
about "such dramatic
problems" is not the right
route to follow.
Despite its vote of
unanimity, the hospital. still
faces the problem of ob-
taining a building permit for
the new wink before con-
struction can begin. The
board approved an offer to
lease land for parking from
Sacred Heart Church, but it
still needs approval from the
diocesan authorities;.
Mr. Hayes said he hopes to
get the lease signed within
two weeks, adding that
construction will start im-
mediately upon receipt of the
permit. He told the board the
contractor had about two
weeks worth of work to -'be
done in preparation for
construction, but .admitted •
he is concerned about any
delays which Could prevent
the building' from being
closed -in before bad weather
sets -in this fall.
The board also was told
that the fundraising com-
mittee has begun meeting' to
plan its campaign. It has
selected Tom " Miller of
Wingham as chairman of the
committee and has inetwith
the men who headed the
fundraising drives for. the
Goderich and Clinton
hospitals to get someideas.
The committee is looking
at conducting a door-to-door
canvass in September, withi.
-perhaps another drive atthe'.'
end of the year, the board
was told: It has set $400,000
as the target for the fund-
raising drive.
hospital will h to develop court over the parking issue
ospi wi have
ev
the parking lot in accordance " However diel agreedthe resigned as chairman of the
with the zoning bylaw, planning committee should board's property committee r
meaning the project must be have been cotitadted right in frustration over tieing
engileered with pr)p_er___srnrthek�...,kept in thedark regarding
SNA graduation.
paving, gra ng an fai ure is ligejfirAb� , a.
witldrawtt
h
S, 'et
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..ahs
'1i �:,im. ,� .
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.tfl
'f� d t
1
9
i ere r :
n .oar..
a ,
�^
3 : .:k;
. � e,
it iia been
' � "e "din o
nthe
board-, '��: e
ei�"a
h
y
t.
thing els .�. _ . l�
g Wing - r it .,A . • longtime comingover a
should know about"that five-year�lease OA a'•dilece of
could prevent the hospital land about 200 feet by 100 feet project which had split the
getting a building permit, which currently is vacant board right from the start.
Dr. Brian Hanlon inquired next to the existing church At the beginning of last
whether the architect or parking lot The proposed Week's board meeting,
lease contains a provision
allowing the hospital to opt once again on a motion
'f 't ' .unable to obtai
property committee had members were asked to vote
known about the parking
requirement before the
, project went to tender.
He also asked. whether the
planning committee had
been given a copy. of the -
plans before tendering.
Mr. Hayes said there
should not be any further
hitches and explained the °
architect had' said he in-
terpreted the zoning bylaw
differently and assumed
because nothing had been
said about parking at the
time of the last building
project, in 1981, there would
Verna:..Steff :.of .. offi
liam; r graduate` of; the Reg
istered Nut%ing� .ASeistants
training program at the
Wingham and District Hos-
pital, addressed the 41st
graduation exercises. held
last Friday afternoon at the
OU 1 1 is
awarding the contract for
the necessary perm the building to Refflinghaus
also allows either side to of Goderich at a price of
cancel on six -months notice. $1.492 million, as Chairman
It also would permit
the
its and
Mary Vair conceded that a
hospital to renew the lease
for a further five years,- meeting a month ago had
necessary, and gives it first been handled improperly.
option to purchase the land if The' new motion passed,
it is ever offered for sale. but bya split vote of 9-5 with
• The hospital is hoping to two pembers abstaining on
solve its parking problem in tie grounds that they had not
the long term, however, been at the meeting at which
through the acquisition of the project was discussed.
properties in the hospital P
block. Despite a request by one
board member, no further.
discussion was permitted
since it was ruled that this
was simply a procedural
matter.
Later in the meeting, after
Mr.` Hayes had read the
property committee report
which normally would have
been presented by. Mr. Hill,
Mrs. Vair revealed that Mr.
Hill had resigned as a result
of concerns arising from the
building project and that she
had accepted his resignation
." G...:.
effler res dent of
Mrs. Ste 11
l?
.� uti
the
' diad a
the Cana ,
Ontario RNA associations,
told the 20 graduates that she
is prejudiced when she says,
"You are fortunate to grad-
uate from this hospital."
oad t lowered
on Howson Briprevious motion passed
if during a special, closed -door dge
Council moves quickly
with police commission
Having decided to form a
police commission for
Wingham, town council is
losing no time in getting the
process underway.
At a special meeting last
week council rushed through
a bylaw to constitute a board
of police commissioners and
also selected seven names to
be, forwarded to, the
provincial solicitor general
as its nominees to sit on the
commission.
The province appoints
three of the five members on
a police commission. It may
choose these from the list
submitted by council or may
appoint others at its
discretion,
The other two com-
missioners are the mayor
and one other member from
the local council.
Although most of its
meeting was held in open
session, council went into
committee -of -the -whole to
discuss and make its
nominations, with Mayor
William Harris explaining he
did not want to embarrass
anyone who Might not be
selected. He said° he had
contacted people during the
past week to get a list of
potential nominees.
The motion approving the
bylaw was passed by a 5-3
vote, the same margin by
which council voted May 7 to
establish a police com-
mission. Reeve Joe Kerr was de
not at the meeting, but
Deputy Reeve Patricia
Bailey ( who had been absent
for the earlier vote) said he
stilt opposed forming a
police commission.
Mrs. Bailey herself voted
againstthe motion, as did
Councillors Tom Miller and
,William Crump.
Unlike the previous meet-
ing, discussion general-
ly remained low-key, with
the only fireworks coming
when Mr. Miller, who is
chairman of the police com-
mittee, attributed motives of
revenge ' to Councillors
James A. Currie, the former
chairman, and Jack Kopas,
both of whom resigned from
the committee last Decem-o
ber.,
Mr. Currie denied the
implication, saying he had
kept completely in the back-
ground since resigning and
challenging Mr. Miller to
provide evidence .of any
meddling. Mr. Miller and his
committee had brought the
roof down on themselves, he
declared.
Mr. Kopas said he did not
want the issue to become one
of personalities, but added
that if Mr. Miller wanted to
pursue the matter he would
ask the mayor and Mr.
Miller to table.all documents
leading up to council's ,
cision.
"Then that would become
a schemozzle."
During discussion leading
up to the vote only Mr. Miller
and Mr. Crump had much to
say, and both spoke against
forming a commission.
Mr. Miller objected to the
speed with which the matter
is being handled and said he
has misgivings about the
fact that the majority of
commission members are
not elected. However he said
he could see the majority of
council is in favor and knows
that commission members
will do their best for the
town.
Mr. Crump also objected
to having a special meeting
called so quickly to deal with
the matter and said he thinks
forming the commission is
"a grave mistake". However
he too promised to give full
support to the commission
once it is formed and said he
hoped the rest of council
would as well.
The bylaw was given three
readings. and passed in a
recorded vote, with the
mayor and councillors
Currie, Kopas, Bruce
Machan and Douglas Switzer
voting in favor and Mrs,
Bailey, Mr. Crump and Mr.
Miller voting against.
Council then went into
closed session to select its
nominees to the commission.
The Howson Bridge has
been closed to any vehicle
much larger than a pick-up
truck in the wake of renewed
concerns over deterioration
of the concrete structure.
The load limit on the
bridge, set last fall at 12
tonnes, was lowered last
week to three tonnes during
a special meeting of
Wingham Town Council.
In a report to council,
.Councillor Bruce Machan
said the roads committee
met last Friday with the
town engineer and�repre-
sentatives from the Maitland
Valley Conservation Author-
ity, which shares responsi-
bility for the dam and
bridge.
Although the final report
on the structure is not in yet,
preliminary studies do not
look good, he said, and the
committee recommended
loweringthe weight limit.
He admitted the reports
were not conclusive and said
Reeve Joe Kerr (who was
absent from the council
meeting) felt the concerns
were exaggerated, but
recommended the town safe-
guard itself by lowering the
load limit just in case.
He said the new limit will
be posted on signs leading to
the bridge as well as by a
notice in the paper and
letters to industries which
might be affected by the new
limit.
u
The traming'p"*, a3i at ,
�
aiati-,Iias s:al
n
the top three out of the 45 in
the province. '
"This is only the beginning
of your learning," Mrs.
Steffler said and ,urged the
graduating class tolways
read, ask questions and
attend continuing education
courses.
The new Health Disci-
plines Act will "create con-
fusion for a while", butshe
added she thinks it will
bring positive change. For
example, RNAs will be
known as Licensed Practical
Nurses or LP -Ns, a name
which will better describe
the type of hands-on care
they are specialized in.
In conclusion'MrsSteffler
told the' graduates to hang
onto their dreams and en-
thusiasm because RNAs are
a vital part of Canada's
health care system.
Following Mrs. Steffler's
remarks, the graduates each
were presented with a copy
of her book "The Bedside
Specialist", a history of reg-
istered nursing assistants.
They were presented With
the books by the RNA associ-
ation at the Wingham hos-
pital.
Mary Beth, Chamberland
of Kincardine was the
valedictorian and she
recounted some of the events
of the past year. She called
the graduating class "ex-
cited, anxious and a little
sad" about leaving the
friendly atmosphere of the
nurses' training centre.
Wendy Smallacombe of
Wingham was presented
with the Proficiency in
Bedside Nursing Award,
while Darlene Patterson of
Dungannon won the Scholas-
tic Achievement Award.
Mrs, Jean Ellacott,
director of the program, told
the graduates never to lose
their "insatiable curiousity"
and paid tribute to her
assistant, Mrs. Linda Wall,
who is leaving the program
to continue her education.
The remaining members
of the graduating class are:
Marion (Taylor) Armstrong,
Marilyn Ballagh, Sharon
Barton, Jacqueline Brower,
Barbara Cameron, Jane
Haid, Marion Hallahan,
DOCTORS ARE HONORED—Doctors Jack McKim and Mel Corrin, both of Lucknow, Janie Kelp,' Laurel Mar
were honored during last week's meeting of the Wingham and District Hospital Boar ze ti, Susan McLean, Peggy
for their many years of service at the hospital. Mary Lou Thompson, public relations McLellan, Cindy Moere,
chairman, presented certificates on behalf of the board. Dr. Corrin has been a Adrienne Nieuwenlioff, Vir-
member of the,hospital medical staff for 36 years, while Or. McKim has been on staff ginia Petrie, Brenda Riehl,
for 23 years. A certificate also will go to Dr. W. A. Crawford of Wingham, who has Shelley Thom and Ronda
Warner.
been -on the staff even longer.
,