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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-03-21, Page 17t The Wingham Advance -Times, March 21, 1879—Paje_8 Citizens write to the Hon. Dennis Timbrell Dear Sir: I must protest most strongly at the proposed cutback in budget to Wingham and District Hospital which will result in reduced hospital services to our area. _ Our geographic location in North Huron does not avail us of services offered by larger centres -the nearest of which is 53 miles distant. Our severe winter conditions place considerable limitation on mobility to our area and distances involved indicate the necessity for consideration of delivery of service to our rural area. Louise Marritt Dear Mr. Timbrell I have a mother in the Wingham and District Hospital who is receiving fine care. There are many others in her age group in the su.-rounding community who are, or will, be needing the services of this hospital. I understand the care in our hospital costs much less than city hospitals, where the quality of care is definitely lower. It is reasonable to assume that sick people have to go somewhere. So why should we send them far away for poorer care that costs the government — and that is our money — more? Surely this does not seem logical! We have to feel in this community that economics is not the issue here, but a plan to eventually close our fine hospital by closing,beds until it is not feasible to keep it operating. This seems to me a most devious plan devised by men who care little for the people who have elected them. It is the earnest hope of all of us in this community that the decision to deprive us of fourteen hospital beds will be recon- sidered and we will be given the approval to operate our hospital fullscale again to meet the needs of this and the surrounding community. Betty Richardson 0-0-0 Mr. Dennis Timbrell We, the people of this community are very.much concerned about the closing of active treatment beds. This hospital serves a large area. We have excellent facilities and excellent doctors. We do not see why they cannot be used to their fullest potential. Especially I am concerned about the closing of beds in pediatrics. There are not enough beds now to accommodate the children. My grandson, suffering from pneumonia two weeks ago, was turned away — no available bed. We trust you will reconsider your decisionand let our hospital operate as efficiently as it has done in the past. Mrs. Don Robertson 0-0-0 Dear Sir: I am registering my concern re the new, policy of hospital bed cuts in the province and in particular at Wingham and District Hospital. No one questions the complexity of health care in this province. I applaud the need to curtail unnecessary spending. I agree with the move toward preventive health care. Two of the basic needs are health care and education. Both may need to be honed in the area of monetary savings but not until non -basic 'frill' areas are curtailed first. Many projects are funded which are not basic to our quality of life as health care is. , The reason given for hospital cut backs is monetary. Wingham and District Hospi- tal is efficient. Hence the cut of budget for 14 beds is a deep blow. It seems that the efficient hospital is hit harder than it should be. You are trying very hard to be fair (your reason for not allowing inequali- ties which would rise through private funding). Can you find a formula to fair -up the system? The other area which concerns me is the negative spiralling effect cutbacks create. Ten beds are lost; referral population drops; more beds must be cut etc. Then our doctors and ancilliary services gradu- ally leave. Surely we should continue to improve not destroy the accomplishments of many years by many hard-working and dedicated people. You know, sir, the insi- dious effect when the people feel their hard-earned rights are taken from them without sharing in the decision-making pesos Eleanor Ward 0-0-0 Dear Sir: My, experience with the Wingham and District Hospital involves obstetrics and pediatrics. In the Wingham hospital I found the care to be excellent in both areas. My son, weighing less than five pounds at birt.li, was :'ell cared for and I was able to visit often during the extra week he had to spend in hospital. My daughter's anxiety during her brief stay in pediatrics was lessened when i was able to be with her. As a mother, having efficient hospital care close by is very important to me. i feel the Wingham hospital is a necessity in our community and bed cutbacks a great error. Patricia Hunter 0-0-0 Dear Sir: We need adequate health care in our community. We are isolated here by severe winter storms and lack of trap sportation. Why close beds when our hospital is run ,very efficiently at the lowest rate of any hospital in Ontario? This is a pioneer hq(spital built by our own community aitynd/1l/ is an asset to the com- tnua. Why tr;Y t it as you plan to do? is it because our local MPP is a Liberal? if this persists Ontario will not be governed by Conservatives after the next election. i mean this. M. Myrtle Metcalfe Dear Mr. Timbrell: I am a concerned mother al five'ehildren ages 6 years to 13 years. I am writing because I am most . • i, , , , . l with the closing of hospital beds in the Wingham hospital. Three of my children have been patients in this hospital when they were quite young with tonsils, hernia and pneumonia. At the time I had, of course, children at home needing attention, as well a child in the hospital wanting mommy to be with him or her. Why is it necessary to chose beub hal Will644111 why a `wig :wi.Y til operates at an efficient $95.72 per bed a dav? Closing beds means I may not be able to visit oecause of commitments at home, if one of my children should have to go to a city hospital and that city hospital is operating at a much more expensive rate. Do you want to save money or do you want to close small hospitals? Do you care about the people of Ontario? P.S.—Wingham hospital gives fine care. Joan M.Borho RR 1, Formosa 0-0-0 Sir: I wish to protest the closing of beds in the Wingham hospital. This is a large area that is served, with often hazardous travelling conditions in the wintertime and serves a large com- munity well. Also it is a well-run hospital and does not impinge on any other hospital's boun- daries. There are a great many seniors in the town and surrounding country, people who have given a great deal to the community. I would 'nope that further consideration will be given to the matter. Olive M. Lewis A senior 0-0-0 Honourable Sir: The decision by the ministry of health to close hospital beds at the Wingham and District Hospital came as a real blow to the citizens of this area. Undoubtedly health care is a very important issue and should certainly receive priorities over a great many other issues that governments have to contend with. I believe the ministry should reassess these drastic decisions and in no way curtail our present health care standards. When governments are elected to power the citizens have in this way indicated their trust in the party they have given the mandate to. How then can anyone feel other than antagonistic when decisions such as these are made? You can be certain the citizens of Wingham and district are fighting mad over this matter. We have a hospital second to none when it comes to first-rate care and responsible administration. We have the very best of facilities and exceptional medical men. If we are going to be deprived of these facilities little by little how then will the public receive medical attention when illness strikes? I presume in emergencies or disasters where several people are involved, they would simply get no at- tention at all. Another extremely important issue that comes to my mind is the unemployment situation which will undoubtedly take place with health care , curtailment. Governing bodies lead us to believe that they are greatly concerned over our present unemployment situation and yet this move will only create more unem- ployment. It really amazes me how the government can always find funds for trivial things — certainly for anything they deem necessary. I suggest that we could get along with fewer arenas and keep our hospitals at their present working capacity. Lloyd Ellacott 0-0-0 Dear Mr. Timbrell, I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the proposed bed closures at the Wingham and District Hospital. The citizens of Wingham and surroun- ding district built this hospital to provide a service they felt .necessary for the area. The hospital has consistently run at a lower cost per patient than hospitals elsewhere. We have been saving you money! We will be forced, with these bed cuts, to send our patients to hospitals with a much higher patient cost when we could have kept them here and treated them locally. We are in the centre of a large area with. no other hospital facilities. We are in the middle of the snowbelt and must have these beds available to treat the sick and injured during the winter. With bed closures we will likely lose the services of surgeons and other specialists in the future, making it imperative to travel to larger rentrPa to have onarationc, etc. The cost in terms of time, dollars and emotional tension to people forced to travel to the larger centres for care will be incredible. All we ask is for the same assistance given any other hospital our size and allow us to run it efficiently with the beds we feel necessary to cope with the health problems of our own community. Sandra Deslauriers 0-0-0 Dear Sir: I am most concerned about the closing of beds in Wingham and District Hospital and would like to protest strongly. My husband has served 8n the hospital board in past years and i know that at all times our hospital has been run as efficiently as possible. Whenever and wF rever possible, costs are always cut. Over many years, our hospital has been gradually built and improved by our community for our community. Why are you trying to take away from us what we have worked so hard for for so many years? (Mrs.) Shirley J. Kaufman Hon. Deigns Tir.ibrell: I am most ... _ . , l about your decision to cut our hospital's beds here in Wingham. I am sure that you will reconsider after you have re-examined the facts. Do you realize our hospital serves an area of approximately 315 sq. miles, with no other hospital area overlapping this same area? This is unique to our hospital alone in the Huron -Bruce county area. You must realize that due tp our geographic setting we deal with adverse _.....lit:..... o h:. -h ateinr eitiMM ---C_'- - _ l 13.8 per cent for Huron County. Due to theae rnniiitinna w1e Will he oivino a mllr•h poorer health service to our people it we. must operate on a reduced bed ratio as you have dictated. These are only a few facts. I hope that you examine them and many more and arrive at a more logical and humane conclusion. Helesh R{cttoul 0-0-0 Dear Sir: I am a concerned citizen of the town of Wingham. My concern is the cutback of budget, forcing closure of 14 beds of our local hospital now and heaven knows how many .for the future. It seems ridiculous to me that a hospital running efficiently in the past by main- taining its budget should be penalized by this cutback. We in Wingham live 55 or 60 miles away from any centre that could offer any more extensive care to a critically ill patient and travelling in this area anytime from December until March is certainly not ideal for making any such trip. Also, I understand to maintain beds in city hospitals is much more costly per bed that these smaller ones. We hays a good hospital and a good staff as well as a broad spectrum of specialized doctors who utilize this hospital. My major concern is that this paring is costing jobs and bed loss, but also a further cutback will destroy our variety of ser- vices and good care and eventually our doctors will leave. We need this hospital as it is now. Marilyn Wood 0-0-0 Dear Sir: I am writing this letter to personally express my concern over the proposed closure of beds at the Wingham and District Hospital. We are told that the optimum way to treat a sick person is to treat the WHOLE person. This includes the mental, physical and social aspects of his illness. A smaller hospital in the patient's own community can meet these needs. The Wingham and District Hospital has been doing this well since its founding by the community. Soon it won't be able to if beds are closed. By sending a person to a bigger health centre his physical needs may be met, but what about his mental anguish when his own doctor is not able to treat him or his social despair when his family and friends are unable to travel to visit with him? To me this is one of the main reasons that the Wingham hospital must not have its beds cut. Emily C. Phillips 0-0-0 Dear Mr. Timbrell, Do you have to cut hospital beds to control health costs? If so, why do you choose hospitals that operate as efficiently as the Wingham and District Hospital? Our hospital's per bed per day cost is less than $Nk. This is less than any large hospital in this area by at least $30 per day. If our hospital, due to bed cuts, is unable to handle patients, they will have to be transferred to a larger, more expensive hospital. I realize in these inflationary times that it is a difficult task for you to operate within the budget that your government has allowed and you must be commended for your effort; however there are human needs that must be given priority over all, and health needs are one of them. Because of the uniqueness of our winter weather it is important to us that a well equipped, efficiently run hospital be in as close a proximity to the population as possible. There are days when because of severe winter storms, or should I say blizzards, our schools are closed and travel becomes a desperate struggle. To have to travel even 10 miles to hospital becomes a long and arduous task: to have to travel to London or Kitchener is im- possible. I just wish, Mr. Timbrell, that you could spend one winter with us; then I am sure that you would realize that we need our hospital at full capacity. Our community built this hospital, largely from donations, to meet the needs of this area. We need our -i hesr l at full capacity. apa:.ity. Don't lei ii5 sown. John Wray 0-0-0 Dear Mr. Timbrell, i am writing this letter for my father who has been receiving wonderful treatment from the staff of the Wingham hospital for years. I am very concerned that you're thinking of closing down beds at the Wingham hospital. My father often suffers from heart attacks, internal bleeding and a fluid buildup in his lungs, which makes him unable to breathe, and if he had.to travel to a hospital in the city for care he probably wouldn't live. So i am pleading with you to reconsider your statement. The Wingham hospital and staff have given my father excellent care. The last time i rushed my father to the hospital in Wingham they didn't know where they were going to put him and there were other patients coming in yet that night. How can you consider closing beds down in a hospital when it's already short of beds? Mrs. Katherine Benninger Formosa Dear Mr. Timbrell, I am writing to strongly oppose any bed cuts at the Wingham and District Hospital. It is my opinion that this supposed dollar 'saving' scheme is in fact an initial bed - cutting (long temp) plan (by a statistic conscious civil servant of your ministry) which will eventually (if your party remains in power in the province) lead to further be&cutting and eventually to closure of our hospital. This centralization of 'services' seems to be a pet system which in the past has created our present monsters in the fields of education and regional governments. It has led to a 61 coaly uhhpCl but"" ahlu shell uu•umpetent nature of 'care'. Since it is unquestionable more efficient to care for a patient here in our hospital than in a more expensive, larger centre, patient referrals to our hospital (of patients with less serious type illnesses) would seem to be in order (rather than -q- bed bed reduction here! ). These patient referrals would increase the number of beds required here and besides treating patients more economically we would certainly treat them well—we presently boast a three-year accreditation at the Wingham hospital. 1,M any statistics car. prove that the quality of care at our hospital will be reduced with continuing bed -cutting procedures. We cannot tolerate such an action when it is through local efforts that the present high quality, efficient level has been achieved. Any quality care health service system requires a certain degree of flexibility in itc scheduling and its ability to h—anile an emergency situation. Our present locality has some 3,000 students riding buses. One accident involving even 45 students would strain our present hospital bed system. If beds were reduced (and thus staff reduced) our ability to handle such a situation would be jeopardized seriously. Reduction in beds, leading to further reductions in beds, services and facilities in our hospital, will certainly make our hospital, our area, less desirable to new medical staff and personnel. This general decline in the range of services which we 'are able to offer on a local basis will certainly reduce us to nothing more than a chronic care facility. We believe that this is not only wrong but more expez;s� matter how you look at it. We don't want our hospital to be reduced by any number of beds and we are willing to fight to keep them. Ray Bateman, D.D.S. 0-0-0 Dear Sir: We are writing to protest the proposed bed closures at Wingham and District Hospital. We feel any reduction in health services to this rural community would be a great hardship for the following reasons: ' 1) Wingham hospital is so situated that it serves a geographical area of 350 sq. miles without impinging on any other hospital's area. 2) The winter weather experienced in this northern Huron County district is of such a severe nature that travelling any distance is virtually impossible, even in an emergency. One has to experience the severity of a winter storm in this area to appreciate the problems involved. 3) School buses transport over 3,000 children daily, travelling on roads in all weather conditions. A potential accident could put a severe strain on even present hospital facilities. 4) The cost per day of an active treat- ment bed iii Wingham is one of the lowest in the area at $95.72. Compare this cost with that of Kitchener -Waterloo at $130.38 and $341.66 for McMaster hospital, Hamilton. It makes little, sense to care for the people in the more expensive hospitals when Wingham is well-equipped as it stands now to do so. Consider also the extra travelling costs involved— ambulance transportation, family visiting, etc. 5) Hospital care involves physical, spiritual and emotional aspects. Proper personalized care can be provided in our own local hospital. This means a good deal to a person already under the stress of illness. This hospital, may we remind you, was built through the efforts of the people of this community. We would appreciate it if more consideration was shown by the Ont. government for the needs of the people in Wingham and area. Let us retain our active treatment hospital to take care of our own people in our own community—thus saving the government money in the long run. Kenneth C. k Audrey McKague 0—u-0 Dear Sir: I am convinced your methods for data collection are both inefficient and inac- curate. How else could you consider taking 25 per cent of the active beds from the Wingham and District Hospital? i am sure you can show us county figures and referral figures which justify additional chronic care beds, but the question you should be asking your employees is this: Where a hospital is using 70-80 per cent of its active bed capacity is it a service or a disservice to the rural community to cut such beds in favor of either a reduced hospital capacity or, worse, a conversion of an efficient hospital into a chronic care senior citizens' centre? Blanket policies, procedures and systems invariably breed inefficiency and poor service when the needs of a com- munity are thwarted or transformed according to the desires of centralized health care services. Please help us keep a living and growing community. ian Deslauriers Dear Mr. Timbrell, Recently i was admitted to Wingham and District Hospital. 1 left impressed by the efficient care of the nursing staff and skill of my physician and surgical team. The treatment I received, compared favorably with the two metropolitan hospitals in which I have also been an inpatient ( Kitchener and Montreal) . The W. & D. Hospital is served by dedicated M.D.s, is regularly visited by specialists and supports necessary an- rillary ap"ieps in an ianlatpA area. The dwindling number of hospital beds you live(: And care of ill people: a shrinking 100 - bed institution will not attract specialists, will mean the loss of ancillary services and, ultimately, the leaving of our local physicians and surgeons. Your bed cutting policy is a devious means to an end. The cost of operating a Lau krliyaiUulct n�ly UCP �., slulul—n tiJ.,v+c hospital --for a continually decreasing number of beds will become prohibitive. What will be your health ministry's final decree? Closure. The W. & D. Hospital has consistently run below budget, has one of the very lowest per day costs—below $100, offers services no other community or area organization can provide: cancer clinic, mental health clinic, nursing assistant training centre, and care for one of the highest geriatric populations in the province. OPP figures show travellers of busy provincial highways 4 and 86 need prompt medical treatment. This area requires and uses an active care centre. IIIC Illll)til(ill18 lul'eCU I:IVAUIC of Vtlr pediatric ward and bed cuts in obstetrics is particularly objectionable in my view. Our hospital administrator deems this action necessary in order to meet your formula. In the face of ongoing bed cuts and con- sequent loss of services, our fierce climate and long distances to other centres, we will be denied our right to adequate medical attention. I strongly protest your withdrawal of service from an efficient, high -occupancy, community built, three-year accredited hospital in an isolated area. Linda Hess 0-0-0 To the Hon. Dennis Timbrell: Being a part-time RNA at the Wingham and District Hospital, I feel that you are doing a great injustice in cutting back beds at the hospital there. It is obvious that you have not worked in hospital surroundings. I feel that you are cheating the sick of proper care. Where are we to go if we are sick? Transferred to London. Quite impossible and, I might add, impassable in one of our severe winter storms. Roads are sometimes blocked for days and as well, the visibility nil for days. Are we then to lie and die? The people in the small communities surrounding the area depend greatly on the services offered at the hospital as well as the excellent care of the doctors there. It also seems to me that the provincial government is always picking away at the smaller communities, like hospital closures a few years ago, also the registry office in Durham. And what do we get in return? Oh yes, I do remember now, you wanted to give Harriston your city gar- bage, which is another small community. Is this all we taxpayers are worth? Linda McKee 0-0-0 Dear Honorable Sir: As a member of the Wingham area I am most deeply concerned over the impending closing of beds in our hospital. It is most tragic that a hospital serving such a large area must be cut down. Over the years our family has been served with excellent care from our hospital and it gravely concerns me that in the not -too -distant future we shall have no hospital at all. From statistics, our hospital is operating, financially, greatly below other hospitals and therefore there should not be any great financial burden to have it carry on without Chic bed loss which will drive patients to larger urban centres for medical care. We are most anxious in regard to the eventual loss of our clinics, nursing school, diagnostic lab, and most of all, the doctors, who most certainly will not care to locate in a place where hospital facilities are of little use. Bed reduction now and in the future will eventually reduce us to the status of a glorified first aid station, many miles from the care to which each and every citizen is entitled. In winter this can cause critical conditions. In addition, the care required in a more expensively operated hospital will add additional financial burden to the tax- Nayer. Staff who depend on the hospital for their livelihood will be gradually eased out to join the ranks of the unemployed. It is most important that you give second thought to this drastic move and act upon it. I thank you. ( Mrs.) Anna Marie Kieffer 0-0-0 Hon. Dennis Timbrell: Just a note expressing my opinion on closing our hospital in Wingham. i've got a family of eight children who have all been in the hospital at some time. Also, my husband itas been in twice this year with convulsions and was taken Christmas morning at 3 a.m. by ambulance. i've also been in quite a few' times, as well as in Victoria once. 1 would have rather been back in Wingham around my family and friends that I knew. Wingham has always been run ef- ficiently as to my knowledge, as well as costing less per day than someone having to go to lAndon or elsewhere strange to them. There are always going to be sick people as long as you live, as well as me, and I can't see closing any of the beds in our local hospital which serves such a large community. As far as nursmg care, I couldn't have wished for any better. The children didn't seem to mind being left as there was always a nurse on hand whom the children knew. Hoping for some success in keeping Wingham going for many years to tmme. Mr. and Mrs. Pete Campbell and family n—n—n I wisil to convey to you the deep concern i feei over the regi anoouncemeni of hospital bed closures to the Wingham and District Hospital. U Wingham's Hospital budget had been excessive, over stated costs, had had a low bed occupancy rate Yr did run have the highest Quality rating from the provincial hospital association then perhaps bed cuts would be valid. BUT this is not the case. I am very proud of our hospital budget - cutting measures over the years. I do feel that these bed closures are unjustified and may even increase health costs because patients will have to be sent to hospitals with rntlrh higher ner rarity enatg- I teach in a school 14 miles from Wingham. A surprising number of my students receive medical attention from doctors and hospital services supplied in our hospital. Travelling distances are a definite hindrance in this area when considering hospital bed closures and shutdowns. We in Wingham want our 14 t,�!ds back! Our community needs them. Bill Farnell 0-0-0 To Whom it May Concern: One question to begin with: Three or four years ago it had been decided by the powers that be that certain hospitals should be closed. If this had been followed through, would it be n. :, .,� to reduce beds at this time? This hospital has served its purpose for a long time. Many patients who have had to go to the larger centres were very glad to come back to their hospital in their own community because they were back in their own home area, they had their own doctor, they received more individual attention and they feel as though they. are individuals, not a number. I know of many cases that would neva have reached one of our larger hospitals and would not be alive today if it had not been for the Wingham hospital. We have the facilities here that have been paid for by the community after many hours of hard work by many people. I do not understand how these can be taken from us. There must be other ways and means to raise money to keep the hospital and all its beds open. Many people living in this area will lose their jobs, leaving more people on welfare. Are there not enough out of work now? Mary I. Grant 0-0-0 Dear Sir: I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the closing of hospital beds in our Wingham acid District Hospital. We are servicing a large area here and giving very efficient service in this 25 -mile radius. We fear the cutting back of beds would cause much danger to people's lives and also emotional tension to people forced to travel to larger centres for care. Wingham is an area often closed in by winter storms, with highways almost if not altogether impossible to travel, and for this reason also it is imperative that we have all our beds available for ourselves and also for people travelling through our area who may have need of our hospital facilities. Wingham has been efficient in cutting costs and yet has no allowance for private funding. We would ask you to seriously qonsider our concerns and help us to keep our beds and service as is so needful in our area. Mrs. L. Fex 0-0-0 Dear Mr. Timbrell, The provincial government, your government, is at this very time trying to get more power from the federal govern- ment as it feels it can use the tax money more adequately to provide for the needs of Ontario residents. Ali' the provinces want more say in running their own provinces. However at this same time the provincial government is dictating to the local hospital boards how they should run their facility, how many beds should be cut and also instituting a penalty of 212,0M per bed if we do not fall into line and cut the beds as you dictate. The Wingham hospital is important to our community. Give us the same increase (4.5 per cent) that you have given other hospitals in our province and let our board run it, as they know the needs of our area better than provincial bureaucrats. We want from you what you want from Ottawa the right to run our own in- stitutions in our own area to serve the needs of our own community. Your government should understand our con- cern. Muriel Wray 0-0-0 Mr. Timbrell My family and i moved to Wingham from Toronto by choice and none of us have regretted our decision. The ad- vantages of living in a small community are multiple and i refuse to relinquish one of them now. The size of my community should have no hearing on the quality of health care my family receives and i strongly oppose the closing of any beds at Wingham hospital. (Mrs.) Stnlan Faltered •:fir`