The Wingham Advance-Times, 1976-10-07, Page 3N
a
Ministry
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Hosp. cutback miscalculation admitted by Health '
A huge miscalculation in its but the savings realized came to ing until about the and of the year tbere were ineffici'encift. He now points to the fact, "we used some measures of output he were still better than the across- released the budgets of all the
the -board cuts which had been hospitals in the province to sre
ho
campaign to cut hospital costs SMA million. while the appeal is in process. 'Hospitals, not unanimouslywon halt the battle" He said it i+E didn't think were valid and wemade in the past. that they received more, not loos,
this year was made by the On- When the cutbacks were Mr. Miller had estimated a but tAasdy, said we didn't use the anew technique and it will be missed some he thought were Hospitals had complained for money than in 1975 undo the t'e-
tario health minis ugh savings data and so we achieved used again and, as it is used, it valid."
try, Health planned it was thought a ;10.3 soul of ti22 million iq, staff re- proper data years, he said, that those kind of straint program.
Minister Frank Miller admitted. million saving would be obtained duction but only $13.2 million $13.2 million of selective savings will get better 'Mr. Miller offered to make the
He said the other main reason by closing the hospitals. Only $1.3 was realized. That $6.8 million inritead of $Y2 million," Part of the problem was that report of the consult$nt public.
said Mr. curs hurt those who had efficient Mr. Miller said the hospitals
for a shortfall of about $22 million million was realized for a short- 'shortfall is where the miscaleula- Millet'• hospitals were inconsistent in Ministry officials said later that operations, because an eight ed may have received less than they
gWs
_ how, the cent increase on an inflated expected, or less than the budg�eta
in original estimates of savingsfall of $9 million, he said. tions came in. "I was furious when I first y recorded their statis- the department where the report budget would firing more funds they submitted for approval be -
was the government's inability to A court decision which ruled The ministry used a technique heard about the government tics. The ministry had an inde- was filed was moving over the than eight per cent on a tight cause most of them asked for
close four hospitals because of a invalid the cabinet decision to called "regression analysis" and errors," he commented. pendent consultant take a look at past weekend and the report budget. amoupts over the guidelines Net
court battle. close hospitals in Chesley, Clin- estimated the amount of money "Like you, or people who have the data and technique used. The couldn't be located. He said it The cuts made this year were by the province.
Mr. Miller indicated that when ton, and Durham and Doctors' hospitals were spending on labor no reason to we the problem my consultant concluded that some would be released next week. on a "reasoned basis", said the He said there were only two
the hospital cutback program Hospital in Toronto, has been ap- per patient day, said Mr. Miller. staff faced in trying to use this of the data needed just wasn't The minister said even though minister. At each hospital, the hospitals in the province (Lt
was launched, the ministry pre- pealed by the province. The hos- Then,the ministry moved in to technique, I said 'How could they available there were troubles with the tech- cutback "wasn't something Windsor and Hamilton) where
dieted a saving of $48.2 million, pital8 were given interim financ- require cuts where it estimated be like that?' " . ,The consultant also said, "We nique, the cuts which were made chiselled out of the hospital next the budgets in 1976 were less than
door that was already a bare- 1975 and that was because of a
R bones peon." "dramatic change in role" for
The ministry's other area of both hospitals.
:•:%' .'%2.'•1:5;::y::••.,':2f>> S'ff .l� f... ��.. `
projected savings was more The average increase for the
successful. The ministry re- Southwestern Ontario region was
:5•:'a;: "' dieted a saving of $15.8 million in the lowest increase around the
C 0■ `* > its bed cutback program and $13 province. Hospitals in the area
million was saved. received about 10 per cent more
Y
0 P Mr. Miller said he has an $85 than in 1975, while in other
million "overrun" in his over-all regions the average increase
budget estimates but other ranged from 12 to 16 per,Tcent,
departments in government have according to figures released.
compensated for it. The ministry Mr. Miller said the budgets W
budget is about $3.5 billion of proved by the ministry are final.
which the hospitals c1pim about Thcre will be no more funds
52 per cent. available in 1976, he said, and
The minister said the hospitals "there will be no exceptions."
this year ended up with about Hospital budgets in 1975 in
$211 million more than in 1975 — Southwestern Ontario totalled
it* an increase of 13.4 per cent in a $248,396,276. In 1976 they will total
year when the government waS $275,253,992 an increase of
talking restraint in health spend $26,857,716.
ing, Mr. Miller said if the increase
• ::.:..•: 'S55:i.::..:b: n•:
He said there are "a lot of given to hospitals is calculated on
the basis of the provincial fiscalm}thsgoing 'around the prov:
IX
:::>::::::::>:......::ince P about how the hospital year, it comes to about 18 per
budgets have been cu ac e
cent.
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357-2711
UW opens new co-op
course for writers
A new and unique school of
journalism came into being in
Ontario last week. It's not called
a school of journalism though, or
even a school of communications.
It's simply the "co-operative
honors English" program at the
University of Waterloo. The UW
senate approved it at its Sept. 20
meeting.
The word -co-operative"
means the students will be alter-
nating every four months be-
tween their studies on campus
and work terms in government
information departments,
publishing houses, newspaper
offices. advertising agencies,
information or public relations
groups in large companies, and
so forth ... wherever there is a
need for staff with the ability to
..communicate succinctly, ac
curately and clearly."
The idea is to combine the
education available through a
regular honors English degree
program with the kind of ex-
perience that will prepare the
students for careers in the com-
munications area.
"In addition to the regular
English programs we strongly
urge them to take additional
courses in practical writing, and
in Canadian history, psychology,
economics and other subjects
that could provide useful back-
ground." says Dr. Ken Ledbetter,
associate dean of arts (Special
Programs).
Dr. Ledbetter said a survey of
potential work term employers of
these students indicated a con-
siderable interest in the pro-
gram. He said during this initial
year of the grogram 15 students
are being admitted: they will go
out on their first work terms in
January. returning in May to
spend the summer on campus. He
estimates from 25 to 30 students
N`ill be entering the program
each year,rn•the near future.
U%k ,Iuaonis will be adn'.; ted
into the coop stream in their
second year While these students
e
will graduate a year later than
students in the regular program .
. that is after five years instead
of after four ... they will have
accumulated a total of 20 months
of practical and relevant work
experience by the time they are
finished, experience for which
they will have received payment.
They will also have been involved
in the kinds of employment they
wish to pursue after graduation.
Dr. Ledbetter says students
will be selected for the program
on the basis of their academic
records, instructors' recom-
mendations and an interview.
The a' ilities they will bring to
their work term jobs will include:
the ability to write and speak ac-
curately, clearly, concisely and
logically; the ability to analyze
and evaluate the work of others;
the ability to edit and revise, and
the ability to conduct library re-
search.
The new program is seen by
many on campus as of great
significance in terms of future
educational trends; until now
there has been little attempt to tie
in the study of the humanities
with career opportunities.
Waterloo pioneered the co-
operative or "work-study" con-
cept in Canada. More than 5,000
UW undergraduate students are
currently on the co-op system
which sees them alternating be-
tween classrooms and relevant
types of work in business, in-
dustry, government and public,
agencies, usually every four
.months.
In developing countries it is
common to find 80 to 90 school
children in a classroom with no
text books. Unicef provides paper
and printing units for text book
production and with just 12 cents
from a Hallowe'en box, the Chil-
dren's Fund can buy two exercise
books so a child can learn to
write.
OVERSHOT WATERWHEEL is an oddity not only
youngsters but to many in their middle years as well. Th
role of water power was one of the demonstrations at the
Internat tonal
r
n
MA
0