The Lucknow Sentinel, 1989-04-12, Page 3Further study rejected b
BY BILL HENRY
An.angry Huron County Council last week
refused an 11th -hour provincial government
request to further study its Huronview
reconstruction 'plans.
The current plan to gradually phase out
Huronview while building a new; 100 -bed
facility in Clinton and 60 -bed _units in both
the north and south of the county within
eight years is unlikely to: gain provincial ap-
proval, a community .and social services
ministry official told council.
But that proposal, expected to cost more
than $14 million, was reached after years of
studies. The most recent was a 18 -month
projectwhich surveyed the county, studied
services elsewhere in the province, and
finally outlined last June the direction
Huron's seniors' housing would take.
Last month, council approved a budget
which begins setting aside its 50 per cent
share of the capital cost of the project.
Ministry spokesman Linda Girard's re-
quest that Huron now rethink the plan to in-
clude the new concept of alternative hr us-
ing for frail eldery residents caught coun-
cil by surprise.
"I am disappointed because I think the
ministryis leading us into another study,"
said Warden Dave Johnston, who vacated
the chair before thoroughly expressing his
concern and calling on council to stick tothe
original proposal and hear "from the
horse's mouth" whether the minister of
community and social -services rejectsth
Alternative housing was described as .a
bridge between extended care (seniors inin-
stitutions requiring extensive bedside and
other care) and seniors living in their own
homes.
Girard said the conncepthas seniors living
collectively in either new or renovated
apartment -like complexes, sharing services
such as prepared meals in a common space.
As well, each facility would have 24-hour
nursing.
Councillors said the plan sounds good on
the surface, but arrives at the llth4iour,
with sketchy details, justas Huron wants to
get on with Huronview's reconstruction.
Councillors in the north of the county also
said the plan considered but rejected last
week, which would have again centred ,f 11
181 licenced extended care beds again in
Clinton, ignores the northern needs.
Others argued that the ministry request
was also ignoring what the people of Huron
County had clearly ask �: for during the
Seniors Care Facility Committee's lengthy
study.
"I think the ministry is not facing the pro-
blem," said Exeter Deputy -Reeve Lossy
Fuller, who chaired that committee. "We
heard the voice of the people and the peo-
ple said what they wanted...the ministry is
' iding it."
t' uller and others told Girard that Huron
residents no longer want a sprawling, cen-
tral complex. Instead, they want smaller
centres spread throughout the county. That
would mean they could remain in their own
communities.
But Girard, .a London-based MCSS pro-
gram supervisor who clearly was not
prepared for the. stormy session, insisted the
ministry does not expect Huron to abandon
its original .concept.
e thesgditffistrofter concern-nentredton
plans to build a 60 -bed unit in the southern
part of the county. With thegovernment cur-
rently supportingthe charitable Bluewater
Resthome in Zurich, funding•another facili-
ty would be unacceptable.
"Two homes of 60 beds each would be
very, very difficult to support," Girard said,
adding "We do as much as -possible want to
foster decetralization."
Luelmow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 129 1989—Pale S
Ii
uron counci,
That angered some councillors, including
the warden.
Johnston said that the provincial govern-
ment, which demanded the recent study of
Huron needs in advance of considering any
capital project, should have said at the
outset that no home would be considered for
the south.
Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle said Huron's
plan also said the county would encourage
private business to build the two satellite
homes north and south. But, he complain-
ed, the ministry will not consider that.
Repeatedly, Mickle asked Girard for an
explanation. But she said simply that it is
against ministry policy to transfer extend-
ed care beds out of "the public domain."
"The proposal we have before us is wrong,
totally wrong," said Mickle. "I thank the
people of Huron deserve more...once you
put it all in the centre again, you're into a
proposal which lacks flexibility for the
future."
The lengthy session got confusing at times
as councillors and administrator Bill Han-
ly differed over what council was being ask-
ed to decide.
The motion before council, which stemm-
ed from an earlier Huronview committee
meeting with Girard and other ministry of-
ficials, affirmed the county's "belief" in its
original plan, but asked council to instead
consider alternative housing in the north
and south while building a new, 181 -bed
facility in Clinton.
That motion was defeated once, then
Shoot
to
winners
defeated again on a 1442 recorded vote,
after Hardy expressed concern that council
may not have known "what's being
defeated."
Despite the close vote, very little was said
by councillors favoring a review of alter-
native housing. One councillor did note that
the facility study upon which the three cen-
tre proposal is based did ask residents what
they would want if money were not an
object.
Now, Huron's original proposal for the
three, separate facilities goes on to the
ministry for approval, or rejection.
Some councillors said after that they ex-
pect the plan will be defeated but that at
least then council would be hearing that
directly from the minister and cabinet,
rather than from a local, ministry official.
"What we need is for the province to say
yes, they'll allow us to dig a hole in the
ground or no they won't," said Johnston
after the meeting.
"If they're not going to allow us (to begin
construction) then, and only then, will we
start looking at other alternatives."
Ministry spokesman Girard could not say
how long Hurons could expect to wait for that
decision, nor wouldshe speculate further on
the likelihood of Huronview's approval.
"1 can't say it any .plainer than to state
that the ministry is asking the county to at_"
least look at the "Option of alternative hour=
jaw97
At the shoot party in St. Helen's Halla
sponsored by the St. Helen's Women's In-
stitute on April 4, the winners were : high
lady Jean Phillips, second lady Irene
Markham, high man Lloyd Moffat, second
man Brute Baynard, most shoots Jim Fin-
ningan with three, lucky score card Elaine
Errington, lucky cup Ross Errington.
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