Lock cars at WPH Visitors and staff at the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital should always lock their car doors and signs should be posted to remind them to do so, a coroner's jury recom- mended Wednesday. The jury was investigating an incident last April when a patient from the hospital died in an accident after taking an unlocked staff member's car from the hospi- tal grounds. The jury reports that James Walter Powell Wright, 25, died of a ruptured aorta after the car he was driving went out of control and crashed into another vehicle shortly after 7 p.m. April 26. Mrs. Rose Keenan, of Follett Court, Ajax, the driver of the other car, was seriously injured in the accident. Continued Page 2 Psychiatric hospital gets accreditation Ken Sheehan, Adninistrator of the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, was pleased to hear that the hospital has achieved full accreditation for the first time and has urged the staff to work toward improving patient care. Free Press Photo After many years of work- ing to bring itself up to standard, the Whitby Psychia- tric Hospital has achieved full accreditation from the Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation. The accreditation, which is good for the next two two years, is the result of a survey by an accreditation team last June. The survey report, by Dr. C. H. Cahn and Mrs. I. Shaw stated: "It is a pleasure to recommend accreditation for two years, with commendation for the excellent progress made". The report includes a 28- point listing of recommenda- tions and comments, com- mending the hospital for the tremendous effort made during the past year to solve the problems identified by the previous accreditation survey team. Credit is given to the hospital's accreditation com- mittee, which has been hamp- ered in some cases by financial constrictions beyond the control of the hospital, in. its efforts to bring the hospital up to accreditation standards. Hospital Administrator Ken Sheehan sees the accredi- tation of the psychiatric hospital as a direct result of the co-operation of the entire staff in preparation for the survey as well as the impres- sion presented to the survey team. Since this is the first time the hospital has ever received full accreditation, Mr. Sheehar has urged the staff to work toward improving the stand- ards and quality- of patient care so that the next time the hospital is surveyed it can obtain the maximum three- year accreditation. Messages of congratulations have been received from Ontario Deputy Minister of Health W. Alan Backley and Director of the Psychia- tric Hospitals Branch, William Jappy. Mr. Jappy made a recent visit to the hospital at the request of Mr. Sheehan, to inspect the, facilities and encourage the ministry of health to invest capital funds for the purpose of bringing patient care to a more appropriate standard. INSIDE EDITORIALS.............................. PAGE 4 BIRD'S EYE VIEW, KALNINS ON, POTPOURRI....................... PAGE 5 BROOKLIN BYLINES................ PAGE 6 HISTORICAL WHITBY, WORDS FROM WEST LYNDE, CORRIDOR CAPERS.......PAGE 7 SPORTS.......................................PAGE 11 BUSINESS.................PAGE 13 PAG L r. 4c~ ~ I