The Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-04-18, Page 4J
THE ADYAnCE..TIMES
0-1
The patients come first
Whe?her or not the people of Wingham
and area are any closer to a solution of the .
hospl+ cut problem remains to be seen.
It i_ ely doubtful that the hospital's
pre i is of 100 beds can be maintained
too long, out alternatives are under study.
On Tuesday of last week a delegation
from the local "action comm. ittee", repre-
senting both board and public spent an hour
and a half with Health Minister Dennis Tim-
brell and his aides In his Queen's Park office.
There was an open two-way discussion of
Wingham's case for retention of its full quota
of active treatment beds. Some members of
the delegation left the meeting with the
feeling the officials had "skirted around" the
more important issues, but at least alter-
natives were discussed.
The minister asked the local board to
determine its actual needs for chronic and
extended care beds. His remarks recognized
the crisis situations which occur from time
to time when more than normal numbers of
active treatment beds are needed and he
said several times that in such instances
The issues are
As the federal election campaign rolls on
toward its May 22 conclusion the Canadian
electors have yet to hear any startling pro-
nouncements from the leaders. An analysis
of public opinion so far would seem to indi-
cate that most voters would like to end the
Trudeau era but they aren't all that enthusi-
astic about the alternatives presented by Jo
Clark.
If that mood persists until polling day
the NDP might well make a fairly strong run
up the middle by gaining a "neither -nor"
vote from the uncommitted. However, with
NDP strength concentrated in relatively fe
areas across the land, its chances of electing
a majority of members are dim.
The performance of the leaders of th
two major parties has been setting the moo
and neither has been any howling success
Until the beginning of last week Mr. Trudea
seemed to have lost the traditional coo
which has usually distinguished his public
appearances. In fact, he was downrigh
anti -political on some occasions- He manag
ed to get into a rough verbal battle wit
audiences in the Maritimes. He describe
farmers as chronic complainers and, wors
of al), grabbed the bait offered by hecklers i
B.C..when they screamed about unemploy *''W
ment hen he told them to "get off thei
asses" and find jobs he was inviting th
hatred of every unemployed person in th
nation who honestly wants work rather tha
active cases could be placed in unoccupied
chronic beds. However, it was not clear
whether reimbursement for such care from
OHIP would be at the higher rate recover-
able for active care.
A second alternative, and one which re-
quires very careful study, would be to estab-
lish the Wingham hospital as a health
services organization (HSO). Mr. Timbrell
cited the case of Sault Ste. Marie, where an
HSO program has reduced overall health
care costs by an impressive 25 per cent.
Some physicians are deeply mistrustful
of the HSO concept, under which the
organization is granted a fixed sum of money
for a year's operations and left on its own to
use those resources as it sees fit. In the
opinion of some doctors the system tends to
destroy incentive and encourage a lowering
of health care standards.
The HSO plan would no doubt have
drawbacks as well as advantages but it does
deserve careful study. One single objective,
however, must be the guideline— the quality
of care this community must provide for the
sick, regardless of age or income.
missing
unemployment insurance.
Observers could only wonder whether
the embarrassment of his former wife's
blatant confessions about her indescretions
over the years was wearing the PM's nerves
a bit raw.
Reaction to Clark so far has been luke-
warm to say the least. He appears to be
gesturing rather than talking in terms of
actual plans for the nation should he be
elected. The media continue to report him as
a gauche young man who doesn't really
know the meaning of leadership. And, of
w course he is still the subject of cheap shots
which bore in on factors having nothing
whatsoever to do with his ability. One of the
e cheapest was Ting's cartoon in The London
d Free Press last week which pictured two
enumerators leaving Clark's official resi-
n dente. One was saying to the other, "Now
I was that Joe Clark, Joe Who or Joe Mc-
Teer?"
t Im.w* books it doesnmatter-la--hoot
mattea •hoot
what Mrs,.,Clark wants to be called and it is
h perhaps a mark of her husband's awareness
d of the modern world that he understands her
t desire for personal identity
n Trudeau's claim that only his party has
- any hope of forging a true state of national
r unity doesn't seem to be scoring many
e points. The general feeling seems to be that
e he has, so far, done very little to prove that
I point.
Cannibal corporations
Events of the past few weeks have re-
inforced the average guy's feeling that the
big multi -national corporations have too
much wealth and power. r,
First the Bay grabs-Simpsd"ns; then the
Thomson empire grabs for the Bay. Leaping
forward for some of the spoils, the George
Weston moguls offer more money for the
Bay shares so Thomson ups its offer. At
present it appears that Thomson will win.
But that's not all. Brascan corporation
which has interests in Brazilian natural
resources, as well as owning 25 per cent of
John Labatt Limited and a big chunk of
London Life Insurance offers over a billion
dollars for a controlling interest in F. W.
Woolworth in the U.S. In turn FWW goes to
court to shake off the Brascan takeover bid.
But Brascan also has a jackal on its tail.
Edper Equities, which does business for two
of the Bronfman brothers of whisky fame is
offering to join forces with a Dutch group to
grab Brascan.
So what does all this mean to you and
me? Actually it could mean quite a lot. As
the money monsters gobble up shares in the
big corporations the average Canadian owns
even smaller interests in the country's
business. For years a comparatively few
millionaires have controlled a very large
proportion of the nation's business and these
latest moves mean that the circle of con-
trollers will grow ever smaller. As they sit
down at the boardroom tables to shape the
course of the country's economic future, the
same faces appear and re -appear as
directors of these overlapping corporations.
Thus the spirit of competition which is
supposed to provide the checks and balances
in a democratic country disappears. The big
money directors know that mutual back -
scratching will keep themselves and their
close friends on top of the money heap and
the consuming public will have to pay what-
ever shots they call.
A state which is controlled by a few very
powerful people is called an oligarchy. A
democracy is a nation governed by the will
of its citizens, regardless of their individual
power.
Generous to a fault
Agriculture and Food Minister Bill
Newman has announced that farmers who
wish to raise turkeys for home use, up to a
maximum of 50 birds per year will be
exempted from the regulations of the
Ontario Turkey Producers' Marketing
Board.
Now ain't that something! A farmer and
his wife, who have bought,and paid for their
farm, its buildings and equipment; who will
have to spend their own money to buy the
turkey poults; who will have to supply all the
feed and labor to raise the birds — and take
the loss if they all get pneumonia and die —
are actually being permitted by a generous
government agency to do their own thing.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES
Published at Wingham. Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
Barry Wenger, President Robert O Wenger. Sec -Trees
Member Audit Bureau of Circulations
Member - Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc Ontario Weekly Newspaper Assoc.
Subscription $14.00 per year Six months 17 50
Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821
Return postage guaranteed
'OINK 1iERE
LAEAKA KM
OUT IF TOE h
R I W1T
A page of editorial opinion Wednesday, April 18
"As if it's not enough we have to choose between Clark and Trudeau,
the bars will be closed May 22. "
Letters t the Editor
Get angry about bed cuts Setting the record straight for seniors
Dear Editor, last option is the only one. The
The people of Wingham and
directive from the public Gorrie, Ontario
district owe a vote of thanks to
meetings was not to close any April 16,1979
the Citizens' Action Committee',
beds and to fight to that end. If Wingham-Advance Times
Murray Gaunt and the hospital
other options are to be considered Wingham, Ontario
board of governors for the ser-
there should be public meetings Dear Editor:
vice they have done to date in
before a course of action is As past -president of the Gorrie
taking a strong, determined
decided upon. Senior Citizens Come Alive Club I
stand against any bed cuts. The
Prof. Ralph Blackmore from feel it my duty to correct the er-
bed battle, however, is far from
Wilfrid Laurier University im- roneous impression given by the
over.
plores us to 'get angry' at report in your last week's paper
The results of the presentation
government incompetence and of the recent Howick Twp. coun-
of the brief to Mr. Timbrell ap-
irresponsibility. Trying to cut cil meeting, regarding the Gorrie
parently leaves us with three
back hospital beds and forcing a Community Hall.
options to consider:
limit of 3.5 active treatment beds Five years ago, after our club
1) Wholistic Health Care—This
per 1,000 population uniformly was formed, we received a New
concept has been a pet project for
across Ontario is totally Horizons Grant to furnish and
an individual within the hospital.
irresponsible. It is the govern- upgrade the hall and also to build
It could have been responsible for
ment again looking at figures and a bowling green. Mr. Gordon
the attitude to consider the 14
forgetting about people. Edgar was instrumental in hav-
beds lost that were scheduled to
It is time to 'get angry' and ing the bowling green built and
be closed this year. Fortunately
show these bureaucrats in operational in short order. It was
the public let the hospital board
Queen's Park that we will not be intended that it would be used by
know they did not want any cuts.
walked over without a fight. the general public. Anyone can
There are too many unan-
Philip Maier rent the bowls and play there, or
swered questions concerning
administration, funding in the
future, small town acceptance,
doctors' support, etc.
This concept probably does
AMR says thanks •
have merit, but not at the ex-
y
pense of hospital bed cuts. It
should be a separate project with
Dear Editor,
separate funding in close
The Wingham and District draw will be held April 27 at 12
physical proximity to the
Association for the Mentally noon at CKNX.
hospital.
p
Retarded is pleased to announce The proceeds of the lottery will
The wholistic health care
be used to start a fund for the that all 300 tickets for its u _
p
project should be entirely
building of a new workshop
coming travel lottery have been g p for
divorced from our fight to keep
sold. The fundraising committee handicapped adults in the
the present hospital beds. Instead
would like to thank everyone who Wingham district.
it seems like someone acting in
purchased a ticket and wish them Wm. Stephenson
an opportunistic manner to save
the luck of the draw. The first Fundraising Chairman
a project that had been stymied
by the decision to fight for no bed
:: - - -
closures.
-
To accept the wholistic health
care option would mean the loss
of the 14 beds and thus further
reductions in the future. It would
thus legitimize the government's
TODAYFS CHILD
drive for 3.5 active treatment
beds per 1.000 population as
acceptable for every hospital in
BY HELEN ALLEN
Ontario. Next they will be telling
us that in order to cut costs a.
family may only have l 5
children.
Blair has just turned two, but this
J appealing little
21 Convert 14 Active Treatment
fellow is more like a one -year-old, bcause he is small and
Beds to Chronic Beds --With the
is below average in development.
Blair is lovable, affectionate and easy to live with,
average age of the population in
because of his sunny personality. His general health is
this area higher than the
good but he has cerebral palsy and was slow starting to
walk. Though he he'd
provincial average there is a
can walk now, still rather crawl. It
need for more chronic care beds
There is in fact
is possible that he may need braces later on, but doctors
are hoping his legs will be strong enough to that.
a need for more
avoid
care for the elderly and there
He also has epilepsy, though he has had only two
should be government funding
g
seizures in his life. Both were associated with high fevers,
so it is hoped he will have no more unless he develops a
for a facility that would improve
fever.
both problems. If all else failed
Blair isn't talking yet, but is very vocal and often sings
this option of conversion to
to himself. He is a good sleeper and eats well.
chronic care is more viable than
This laddie needs a mother and father who can wel-
the chronic care option
come him as he is with his medical problems and
3) Continue Fighting for Our
intellectual limitations. He will be a lovable son for
Beds—Bob Campbell has been
realistic parents.
quoted as saying there are legal
o inquire about adopting Blair, please write to
grounds for fighting the Quern
g g a
Today's Child, Ministry of Community and Social Ser -
vice, Box 8813, Station Toronto, Ontario M4P 2H2.
ment. Our hospital has been run
, In
your letter tell something of your present family and your
efficiently, has a shorter average
length
wa_y of life.
of stay yet a high oc-
For general adoption information, contact your local
Children's Aid Society.
cupancy rate and we have unique
geographical conditions. With all
these factors in mind I feel this
_ _ :: _ _ ... .......... . ...... _..... < , !�'
• k1r1b, 4 i /
better still, join the Bowling Club
and spend the long 'summer
evenings under the floodlights
bowling on the green.
Since that time, other New
Horizon Grants have been re-
ceived and put to good use in the
upgrading of the hall.
Two years ago, representatives
of the Howick Township Council
met with the hall board and rep-
resentatives from the Women's
Institute and the Senior Citizens
Club to discuss the feasibility of
upgrading the downstairs kitchen
to comply with guidelines set
down by the Department of
Health. The first meeting was
unproductive. The second meet-
ing proved futile after rep-
resentatives from the township
council -admitted they didn't have
the money to contribute to even
such a small undertaking.
During 1978, the Women's In-
stitute co-operated with the Sen-
ior Citizens Club by contributing
$400 to get the necessary work
done in the downstairs kitchen.
We had the following installed: a
triple sink, a pump to lift the
waste water into the sewage
system and a propane hot water
tank. We also had sinks installed
upstairs in the senior citizen's
kitchen, at the back of the stage.
Complete cost of the project was
in the neighborhood of $1,000,
with some voluntary labor
thrown in.
For the Howick Township
Council to talk about upgrading
the kitchen facilities in the hall,
suggests that they don't know
what goes on in the township
buildings under their jurisdic-
tion.
In regard to the utilities, these
are the facts: For the past five
years, our Senior Citizens Club
has paid all the oil used to heat
the Gorrie hall. The men who
play cards and shuffleboard
there every day have turned over
to the Club approximately fifty
per cent of this money, over that
period of time. The money for the
oil is paid to the treasurer of the
hall board, when required. The
Senior Citizens Club pays for the
propane gas for the stoves and
water heater, even when other
people use the hall. That leaves
only the hydro for the hall board
to pay for.
Due to the fact that the town-
ship hall was rescued from a slow
death by the Senior Citizens Club
— the township's representative
(the hall board) has been able to
rent out the hall for auction sales,
family parties, dog and cat
clinics, a place to vote at elec-
tions and other functions. The
revenue from those things should
preclude the use of any red ink in
computing ordinary operating
expenses. This is in no way a
criticism of the hall board. I think
they have a very difficult task to
perform.
Please turn to Page 2
,