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Vol. 5, No. 36 Tuesday, April 16, 1996 Ie ARE Xx ¥ arian SE / Wd 194494 ° No parasite problems for | Port water The chance'of the parasite cryptosporidium infecting the Port Perry municipal water supply is extremely remote, "says an official, with the Durham Region Works + Department which operates the system to supply water to residents of Port Perry and Prince Albert. Coming to the stage at Town Hall 1873 The Scugog Choral Soclety Is gétting ready to bring' you is spring production of "the music man" at Town Hall 1873. Kytfen Gaudet-Jarvis, surrounded by male members of the cast, has musical. Nina Foxhall Is stage difector with musical direction opensithis Thursday night, April 18, for 11 performances ending with a Sunday matinee on May 5. Tickéts and ticket information , lead role of Marian Paroo in this well-known Broadway Dr, Tom Millar and choreography by Wayne Henry. The show 319 Fahabia -JaY3oR Calon Wisi. 985-2635. It's a show you won't want to m:3s, ag the Choral Society has dedicated t to the of Jean Kennedy, a long-time member of the Society and supporter of the performing arts In Scugog. v Residents of Collingwobd have been boiling their water for the last several weeks after the parasite turned up ia their water which comes from Georgian Bay. The"parasite hatches eggs in a wperson's intestines, causing gastro-ingestinal upset in healthy individuals. It can be fatal to infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. * The Durham Works department spokesman said /cryptosporidium occurs in' surface water which' gets into drinking water through run-off. + Port Perry water comes from * three Joep wells 90 feet Jeep \ located three miles south of the community and the aquafer from which the wells draw the water is over 200 feet under the , ground. "These deep wells are pretty = well protected," said the' spokesman. * The water is. routinely disinfected with chlorine and for high iron content. While regular monitoring for this specific parasite is not done on a regular basis, the spokesman said the risk is "minimal, very, very low," Because the wells and the aquafet are so deep in the ground, there is "almost nil chance" of any contamination ~ from surface water run-off. | "From a public health point of [™ "view, the Port Perry water is really quite safe" said the Works departmert spokesman. The Ontario government has released a+ list of 43 communities in the province | where drinking water supplieb could be at risk from cryptosporidium contam,; ination. Most are in northern Ontario, but some are in agricultural areas such as Chatham, Parry Sound, Hanover, Cornwall and, BracebfiZge. . Changes coming to local hospitals A report to the Ontario Port Perry Hospitals be reduced agd that the department at one of the hospitals be down: scaled. "Satisfying the people in both communities is not going to be " qaid Port Perry Community Hospit4] Board chairman Jerry Taylor. # But he stressed that with the provincial government forcing changes in health care all over Ontario; the people of Uxbridge and Scugog are going to have to be aware "that we are not immune to those changes." He made the comments on the release last week of the "Final Report of the Implementation Planning Committee" set up two years ago by the Durham Region Health Council to examine all aspects of acute care health services in the Region. "It calls for a decrease from 72 beds to.52 (total) at Port Perry and Uxbridge Hospitals, with one Level B emergency department and one Level A department. Level B provides the same service both hospitals now enjoy. Level A would not be open 24 hours daily and would not have doctors on 'call through a portion of the night. In the event of a, serious accident, for example, ambulances would by- pass the Level Ahospital and take patients directly to the facility with Level B.service. \ Just where the cuts in the number of beds ovcur and which emergency y COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS - SEE department gets scaled down is not spelled put in the report, 'Those tough decisions will be up tothe two hospitals' Joint Services Steering Committee, made up of board members, medical staff and the CEO's from each facility. Mr. Taylor's message that the public must be made aware of the changed in the health care system |in Ontario was strongly backed up by Community Memorial CEO {David Brown and director of nursing Rae who met local media reps at the tal Monday mornj ng. ."Pyblic education is really very important with all the changes (in health care) that are coming," | stated Ms. Robson. Mr. Brown said cutting the number of beds from 72 to 52 at both hospitals and scaling down one emergency department will not have a "significant impact" on staff 8. "It wilt mean people shifting (from one facility to the other) to be sure, but there will not be a significant job loss impact." emergency department at both hospitals. , " Mr. Brown said that "hopefully, when we have to make the changes, the quality (of health care) will still be there." All three noted that the provincial government has already started to force hospitals to make significant Just when the changes will come into effect d ds on the h ! hy Joint Services Cogmittee. ' The report calls for 35 acute care beds and 16 long term care beds in Jtotal at both facilities. Included in. the 35 acute care bed total are three surgical and three or four obstetrical beds. There are currently 42 beds at Port Perry and 30.at Uxbridge. - .. Taylor said the most disappointing aspect of the report is that it does not support the Level B- over Ontario by the massivé cut- backs in grants. Community Memorial, for example had its annual grant trimmed 2.5 per cent (about $150,000) this year and there are more 'cuts coming in the next couple of years, though the amount of future cut-backs is not known at this time. "We simply don't have the dollars to the service that we had ~st.orie time," stated Mr. Taylor. + i " in health care delivery all « *