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wmwmmm mm mm wmËÊÈmÊmlm wmËÈmmXm wÊmgmgsm Delivered ; Free of Charge to 18,000 Homes in Clarington 'from The Publishers of W Catiafriatt gtattsman i '^x-rvxïf.y": ill IStitÉ mu lll!il! iliilllp Wwmwmm- J WÈÈÊmÊm Saturday, February 26,1994 fl|: 17th Year, Issue 8 1 \ \ Previous High Case Costs Caused bv Construction High case costs reported at Bow- manville's hospital in 1992/93 were the result of the hospital's ongoing renovation and construction project. Memorial Hospital President Richard Elston says the most up-to- date figures on the cost-per-caseat Memorial Hospital show Bowmanville Bowmanville is slightly more cost-efficient than the average hospital of its size. Memorial Hospital's average case cost currently stands at $2,185. The average cost for Ontario hospitals hospitals having 50 to 99 active care beds is $2,200 per case. The costs are arrived at by following following a complicated formula which takes into account the severity severity of cases treated. r ; Mr. Elston agrees that a report from a provincial committee has shown that the Bowmanville facility has previously had higher caseload costs when compared with 37 other Ontario hospitals of a similar size. But the information compiled by the Joint Policy Planning Committee Committee is based on statistics compiled between 1988 and 1992 when the hospital was under construction. "We were under construction during the whole period on which they have based this document." he said. Essentially, the hospital's fixed costs increased during the renovations renovations and construction, but the number number of patients accommodated in the acute care beds went down. This resulted resulted in a higher cost at Bowmanville. Bowmanville. ■ Now that the construction process process is over, the number of patients using the hospital has increased and the case costs are back in line with other comparable health care facilities. facilities. None of the other hospitals in the Turn to page two by Laura J. Richards Rival factions are expected to clash Monday night in a battle to see who will control the Durham Liberal Liberal Riding Association. The federal association's annual general meeting, including an election election of a new executive, takes place Monday, February 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Eastdale Collegiate auditorium. For the past two years, the riding association executive has been made up of-Liberals who describe them- ' selves as having "pro-life" , sentiments. sentiments. However, although the current current executive is opposed to abortion, the group says it is not a single-issue executive. In the association's February 1994 newsletter it is stated by the executive that it: "espouse(s) a prolife prolife philosophy and commitment. Unfortunately, this has been interpreted interpreted by some persons as meaning we are concerned about only one issue-- issue-- abortion. "This is simply not true and we reject this accusation. A pro-life philosophy philosophy means that we believe in the sacredness of all human life, including including the tiniest human being in the womb, the handicapped, the elderly elderly and the severely ill," states a comment in the executive's newsletter. newsletter. Opposing the current executive is a rival group of Liberals sponsoring a slate of candidates committed to "All-issue Liberalism." The "All-Issue Liberals" say that the current federal Liberal executive is on record as voting against providing providing funds to the Alex Shepherd campaign in last year ? s federal election. election. Terry McCarl, one of the members members of the Support The Alex Shep- Turn to page three Digging Out/ Roger Cochrane, owner of Jamieson Tire in Bowmanville, did the neighborly thing last Thursday morning with his recently-restored 1947 Case Tractor. Before businesses opened for the day, Mr. Cochrane had cleared the snowy sidewalks all along his block. His generosity saved shopkeepers heaps of shovelling. Ltd. Graham's IGA*- Maxi Dru|||||Si" ' Rogers Cable èÿôtéms (Indicates partial distribution) For information about inserting flyers in The Independent, please contact our office at 623-3303 by Laura J. Richards The chief bean-counter in Ottawa Ottawa will probably find the electoral honeymoon is over v/hen people begin begin to really scrutinize Tuesday's federal budget, said a representative of a prominent accounting firm. Speaking at a budget meeting sponsored by MP Alex Shepherd, John Williams, of Deloitte & Touche, claimed the Federal Finance Finance Minister Paul Martin missed the mark in three important areas: economic renewal, social programs and something called "fiscal sanity." In the area of economic renewal, Williams said slashing the defence budget will indirectly lower job growth in the broader economy. In the area of social programs, Williams said the govemmen should not have hit the aged part of the population. , [;■ ; In Martin's budget speech, it was stated that "the age credit for per sons 65 years and older will be income-tested, income-tested, as is the case for certain certain other benefits. This will not affect 75 per cent of seniors." Williams doesn't think this is a good idea, because it will target 600,000 seniors across Canada. Fiscal sanity, buzz words for fiscal fiscal responsibility, is seen as "a passive passive approach" to holding back on government spending. Touching on a multitude of areas, Williams said that in research and technology development, the unrestricted unrestricted tax credits were to be phased out. Banks will get hit with a tax. However, "investments in small businesses are to be exempt. "Insurance companies are going to be hammered," Williams noted. Turn to page three Most Bowmanville and area doctors will be taking upwards of five days off during March in an effort to meet their obligations under the provincial government's social contract. The days off are voluntary and will be scheduled by individual physicians. Some will close their offices for an entire week and others will take off one day per week. Patients should call their doctor's office for further details. Emergency services and^tfoe care of urgent cases will not be interrupted. interrupted. For further diMil^sçp the Open Letter from area physicians physicians which ajppeajrs-dn page four. -