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"~ OPINION But while hospital administrators gnash their teeth over this problem, it‘s a problem that could be solved through the Ministry of Health. The difficulty is that the ministry refuses to take the initiative to solve the problem. née of the new realities in Ontario‘s health care system, is that hospital emerâ€" gency rooms are under increasing financial pressure. This means that peoâ€" Ople coming to the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital emergency departâ€" ment will have to wait longer to see a physician and receive treatment. Any emergency unit physician will tell you that the overwhelming majority of people coming into the hospital for emergency treatment, need not be there at all. They are a drain on the hospital‘s resources that should be spend tending to those who really need help. What the MOE and most doctors don‘t want to acknowledge is that the family physician could easily deal with most ‘emergency‘ cases of their patients. The solution is to set up more Health Service Organizations which are groups of general practitioners who receive capitation payment for health services instead of an Ontario Health Insurance fee for service. In other words, they‘re on salary and because of the group method, a doctor is always available for emergency treatâ€" ments at their offices and not in a hospital‘s emergency unit. Many doctors don‘t like the system for one reason, they can‘t bill up to their $400,000+ maximum as they can under OHIP. What we need is a provincial govâ€" emment which can cut through the rhetoric and pressure of physicians and impleâ€" ment more of these programs which are cost and patientâ€"friendly. Getting more MDs to come onâ€"side is a tougher challenge. Like the provincial Liberals before them who ran out of gas just shortly after receiving their second huge majority government, the NDP will go to the people, albeit reluctantly, to ask for their support. Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager AGVATCE, Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, Georgetown 1 lent Acton Free Pr Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist and Sun, Stouttville/Uxbridge Tribune, Milton Canadian Champion, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond HiV ThomhilÂ¥Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Any reproduction in whole or in part of this material is strictly forbidden without the consent of the publisher. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the errongous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the rvitlp(::licable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize and reject advertising. In the event of typographical error, advertising goods ser dvertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. Halloween. What‘s downright frustrating with the NDP government of Bob ae, is that it‘s doing everything it can to delay appearing to answer questions from the opposition parties. I:;s somehow appropriate that the fall sitting of the Ontario Legislature began on Consider this: our MPPs have just come back to ‘work‘ after four months away from Queen‘s Park, only to sit in the legislature for 20 days. And even that‘s a misâ€" nomer since this coming week, after having been in session just four days, the house will rise so MPPs can go back to their ridings for ‘constituency work‘ someâ€" thing they‘ve already been doing for the past four months. After they return to the legislature, the MPPs will be active for just a few more days when they‘ll again be off for the Christmas break. Sadly, this isn‘t the way nonâ€"government MPPs want it. The majority NDP government shortened the legislative setting by five weeks thanks to its own motion. In other words, with four years of governing under their belts, the NDP has run out of gas. There‘s no new pressing legislation on the books and so the government is coasting the final weeks and months before it must call an election. What this latest shameful government act has done, is simply to remind Ontario taxpayers that the NDP were elected to put a little fresh air back into the venerable halls of Queen‘s Park. In exiting as the government next year, the NDP will have left only a stench........NEXT! Editorial Waiting game Cynical act 467 Speers Road, Oakwlle, Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 The Oakville Beaver, published every Sunday, Wadnasd:rnand Friday, at 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, is one of the Metroland n'ming. Publishing Distributing Ltd. group of suburban newspapers which includes: Ajaxâ€"Pickering News Advertiser, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Colli Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, Georgetown 1 lent Acton Free Pr Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist and Sun, Stouttville/Uxbridge Tribune, Miton Canadian Champion, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond HiV ThomhilÂ¥Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Any reproduction in whole or in part of this material is strictly forbidden without the This state of always being ill reached a fever pitch last year when I was bagged for about For most of my years on this tiny planet, I was a real sickly sort. Remember Craig Nettles playing third base for the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1978 World Series? Remember how he made all those sensational stabs, diving grabs, literally catching everything that was hit at him? Well, I was the Craig Nettles of influenza. That is to say: I manâ€" aged to catch it all â€" every bug that came my way. Of course I‘ve managed to remain healthy as a horse. And, because you‘re probably dying to know I‘ll tell you how. Of course the hyper, jumpâ€" starting Junipers beat The Sick Season out of the blocks. My wife caught a cold in September and the flu in midâ€"October. And our boys, naturally, got sicker than dogs â€" and began barking like dogs â€" the day before Halloween. Just in time for trickâ€" orâ€"treats. Bag almy weather breeds D barking boys. Many people are convinced it was that lateâ€"October, preâ€" Halloween outbreak of bewitchâ€" ingly balmy weather that now has everyone breaking out in a rash of influenza. But as a parent, and a medical expert, I know better, I know that, regardless of prevailing weather patterns, come Halloween night all kids everywhere are inevitably sick with something. I also know that, prevailing weather patterns be darned, late October marks the beginning of The Flu Season. When it comes to getting sick, he‘s as healthy as a hoarse horse Because viruses are frequently passed on via handâ€"toâ€"face conâ€" tact, I took to staying home and avoiding people like the plague; in fact, I spent most of my time alone in my workroom. Because viruses are airborne, I took to crawling, trying to keep under the Obviously I watched my diet like a Jenny Craig, dining only on natural, health foods that looked like rabbit pellets, and tasted worse. And I took daily overdosâ€" es of vitamins (A to Z) and minâ€" eral supplements (led, zinc, pyrite). Boosting my immune system practically became a fulltime job. But I didn‘t stop there. No, I worked overtime on my health because, as Cybil Sheppard says in that dopey hair glop commerâ€" cial: "I‘ m worth it." Consequently, I began a regiâ€" men that a lessâ€"enlightened and lessâ€"hearty soul might find someâ€" what strange, slightly severe, and a tad fanatical. But which I‘ve found to be highly effective ... To boost my feckless immune system, I began exercising â€" not weekly or daily, mind you, but hourly. Walking, jogging, running like a goat up mountainsides, swimming Great Lakes. I also made certain that I got plenty of sleep â€" eight, 10, 16 hours a day. And practiced decent hygiene, bathing five or 10 times daily. three straight months, during which time, I got awfully sick of being sick. When my poor wife came down with that September cold, I quit kissing her altogether. Instead, when she was leaving for work each day, I‘d offer her a gloved hand to shake. She thought I was being snotty. Hey, I was ensuring I didn‘t get snotty . . Like so many ghosts and goblins and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Halloween 1994 came and went. Our two beleaguered, barking boys dragged their sorry rumps out for some booty, then came home and crashed into feverish sleeps. As a medical expert, Iâ€"knew they‘d probably picked up a Shangdong or Beijing bug; as a parent, I knew we were in for a few long, dark days. Days into their recovery, I began to feel somewhat sluggish, headâ€"achey, bodyâ€"achey. My throat hurt. So did my chest. Sure my wife is a parent, but she‘s obviously no medical expert like me. I felt a profound urge to explain to her that weather, for goodness sake, has nothing to do with influenza. And to inform her that I ain‘t sick. Cause I don‘t get sick. I would have explained. I would have informed. But I was too busy barking. Like I said: I‘m healthy as a horse. "You look under the weather," my wife said. It goes without saying that whenever I ventured out of the workroom, I wore protective gloves and a surgeon‘s mask. For outdoor activities, I donned a gasâ€" mask. All of which made my wife think I‘d gone gaga. "The flu kills up to 1,200 Canadians a year!" I replied. dreaded bug belt. "Don‘t you think you‘re overâ€" doing it a little?" she asked.