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4 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Places I've Done Time by Clifford Francis Province at root of hospital deficits Premier Dalton McGunity's office needs to hear that we don't want to lose our hospital. That was the message at last Thursday night's Public Town Hall Meeting. The meeting, held at the Clarington Beech Centre, was organized by the group called Friends of the Bowmanville Hospital, assisted by the Ontario Health Coalition. It was attended by approximately 200 local residents. "The reason everybody is here today, is to talk about the Bowmanville Emergency Department," stated Patty Rout at the question and answer period. "I've been a healthcare provider for 30 years," she said. "And in the last 20 years, I've seen nothing but cuts. What do we need to do to make sure the ER in Bowmanville doesn't close?" "McGuinty's office needs to feel pressure, pressure to change their policies around healthcare funding," said Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition representative. "Email, phone or fax a letter; that needs to happen. It does matter if they hear from tons of constituents. Target McGuinty. The more messages his office hears from the people, the better. People who haven't fought have lost their hospitals," Mehra told the group. The province created Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) in 2006 to plan, fund and manage health services in Ontario. There is, however, no requirement for the province to provide adequate funding to the LHINs for the hospitals under their umbrella, according to Mehra. In the current fiscal year, Ontario hospital budget increases are set at 2.4 percent, Mehra told the audience. In the upcoming fiscal year 2009/2010, this figure is reduced to 2.1 percent. Fifty percent of Ontario hospitals are experiencing a budget deficit this year, and 70 percent will have a deficit next year. "Ontario's hospital budgets go to the LHIN for financial help. Lakeridge Health Corporation is not interested in closing the emergency department at Bowmanville Hospital, according to Empey. "Talk of closing the ER puts at risk our redevelopment project," Empey told the group. The government has said they support the $10 million project to redevelop the Bowmanville hospital, including the emergency department, but it would not likely be on the list for capital projects until next year. The current immediate problem facing the Bowmanville ER is the lack of specialists. The ideal roster would include four internists to staff the ER 24/7, according to Empey. However, the LHIN has taken a position that there is not enough volume at the Bowmanville Hospital to support four internists, Empey explained. "Asking them [the LHIN] for money and not doing what they tell us to do is not a good idea," he said. According to Durham MPP John O'Toole, who spoke at Wednesday night's meeting, the issue facing the hospital is one of equitable funding. A recently prepared report by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that hospitals serviced in high growth communities, such as Durham Region, receive $255 less per resident in provincial funding than the rest of Ontario. Communitybased and longterm care services receive $84 less per resident in provincial funding. "We should be fighting MEETING see page 9 Maple syrup sadness Friday night, big Tom Ruff from Leskard gave me a bottle of maple syrup. He has been tapping the trees back on Best Road: mighty fine syrup. I am an authority on something like that; when I was a kid I tapped many maple trees. It took 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Me being young and not having a lot of time, I would speed up the process. I found that ample amounts of brown sugar thickened it a lot quicker with less sap and less boiling. I was ahead of my time, I do believe. In my late teens, I became acquainted with a man and woman back Burkton way who made syrup. What he did for a living besides the syrup I am not sure of. Most times of the year he did very little. When I went there, he was always out in the driving shed skinning a rabbit, or picking the feathers off a chicken to eat. He constantly chewed tobacco and spat it out the door. When it hit the dust a chicken would rush up and peck at it. He claimed that's how he got brown eggs, but I knew better, I think. His wife would come out and she reminded me of a mouse: a pointed head, nose and chin. She constantly complained about her house, her neighbours, and others. I would try and close my eyes and visualize what she would look like naked. I could never keep my eyes closed long enough. What is the difference between nude and naked? I am still not sure. One day, I went over and his truck was not at the shed, and I knew he would be down at the sugar shack. It was maple syrup time. He had a shack at the bottom of a valley with hills on both sides. Lots of maple trees with lines running into the shack and lots of large barrels. The evaporator was wood-fired and he could make lots of syrup very easily. I walked in and there he was dead, definitely dead. It was a disturbing sight. I'll never forget it. I threw a few pieces of wood on the fire to keep the sap boiling, walked out and closed the door. His wife would find him soon enough. I never went back anymore. I haven't been right since. But the price of maple syrup is up 15 percent since last year. "Ontario's hospital budgets are not out of control; [they] have been shrinking for more than 15 years." -- Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition Advertise with ORONO WEEKLY TIMES 905-983-5301 oronotimes@rogers.com are not out of control," she stated, "their budgets have been shrinking for more than 15 years." Yet the Ontario government deflects pressure by saying healthcare spending is out of control, according to Mehra. Lakeridge Health will have a $14 million deficit this year, and is projecting a $24 million deficit next year, according to Lakeridge Health Corporation CEO Kevin Empey. "We have been doing everything we can to make delivery of healthcare more efficient," he stated, but admitted he has been forced to