PAGE 8. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST I 9. 1981, WIIITBY FEE PRESS Decision coming in fali.... No word on Rudd y floor re-opening By MICHAEL KNELL Free Press Staff The Dr. J.O. Ruddy General Hospital is still waiting, patiently, for permission to re-open its second floor froni the Ontario Ministry of Health. Earlier this year, the Durham Region District Health Council reconi- mended to Health Minister Dennis Tirn- breli that the second floor of the Whitby hospital be re-opened to establish a long term care program. The 32-bed expansion would bring the hospital's working com- plement up to 97 and would be used stricly for long terni patients. The second floor of the hospital has been closed since 1976 and would require renovations costing $M000O as well as about $80,000 worth of Introduci ng: Selecfffve Svice POLcf On ihisoption available with ail'82 Volkswagens. Intmd uctory offer Aà ,s of now, tiNs new protection plan" for 36 months or 80,000 km is included wvith the purchase of any new '81 Rabbit sedain orVW Pickup... atnoetm cost. Nternaiconalr ant yus [m comany stemcaialrpi Cme in *xday for more decaik. !'NOWASCO Ani are" t _____ 69383 TORO«TO Award Winner WVMj DR. BRAD BAKER formerly of the Ajax Ani1mal Hospital, Ajax and of the Taunton Rd. Animal Hospital, Oshawa, is pteased to announce the opening of "BAKER ANIMAL CLIN UC" for the practice of SMALL ANIMAL VETERINARV MEDICINE & SURGERY BAKER ANIMAL CLINIC is conveniently located 1/2 Mile east of Thlckson Rd., "Kltty Corner" to the K-Mari Plaza at 1912 DUN DAS ST. E.9 WHITBY Office Hours By Appointment 571 *3700ý WHFIBY equipment. Should the plan be ap- proved, the floor would cost $850,000 a year to operate. According to the hospital's administra- tor, John Kunetsky, the renovations required would be the construc- tion of a dining room as well as lounges, occupa- tional and physio- therapy facilities and modifying the wash- roorns. "There will be a cer- tain amount of remodeling that will have to be done to make it (the floor) more suitable for long term care, " Kunetsky said. He pointed out that a great many people needing such long terni care have to use wheel- chairs a great deal of the time, therefore, the renovations will have to reflect these needs. While the $850,000 a year that will be needed to operate the floor will corne from the Ministry of Health, Kunetsky said that some of the costs will have to be picked up by the coni- munity. For example, the hospital has to find one- third of the $380,000 it needs to renovate the floor as well as the $80,000 for equipment. "The hospital has -to dig it up,",,Kunetsky 309 Brsck St. S. construction to take place and to hire the 35 staff members that will be required to operate the floor. These staff members would include nurses, housekeepiflg staff, or- derlies and nurses' aids, occupational and physiotherapiSts as well as a social worker and recreation director. While most of the people needed to operate the floor can easily be found, Kunet- sky said that it will be difficult to find occupa- tional and physiothera- pists as well as nurses specially trained to work with long term patients. Kunetsky said that there is a "short sup- 668-2081 these skills. Recruiting 11might be a bit of a problem, " he said. "You have to have a specialized staff." If the approval were given tomnorrow, Kunet- sky said "it would be about six months before we'd be ready to admit patients. " A spokesman for Durham West MPP George Ashe said that a meeting had been held on the subjeet by Ashe, Timbreli and Durham East MPP Sam Cureatz last week. He said that while Timbreli was "sym- pathetic" towards the problem a decision would probably not be handed down until early in the fail. saici. However, no decisions have been made as to how the money will be raised. "The board (of gover- nors) has made no decision on the fun- ding," he said adding that the decision will not be made until the Ministry of Health makes a decision. "We are *waiting to see whether it's ap- proved or not and then we'll think about the next step including the financing," Kunetsky pointed out. Asked whether or not he has any ideas of when a decision will be han- ded down, Kunetsky said, "I don't know .... I don't know how long it will be. "1 He added that the ministry has given them no indications on the timing of an announce- ment and that no meetings on the subject have been called bet- ween the hospital, the ministry or the district health council who originally recommen- ded the project be un- dertaken. Once the approval is given, Kunetsky said it would take about six months to have the floor in operation. This time would be used to have architects' plans drawn up and ap- Phil Gillies, M.P.P. for Brantford and parli- amefltary assistant responsible for the On- tario Youth Secretariat, presented the first in-. stalment of a $17,800 grant to the Durham Region Family Y.M.C.A. last week. Furniltwo G Medallion Stove 24", digital dlock, automatic timer, fluorescent lamp, simmer element, smokeless broul pan & rack. SuggestedS.0 9 Retail Price 5 9~ This grant Is the firat made under the Funds for Youth Employment Counselling program, a $15 million BILD pro- gram designed to foster the development and expansion of youth em- ployment counselling services across the Province. The grant from, the Ontario Youth Secre- tariat will be matched by local and other provincial sources and will enable the Durham Region "Y" to launch a program to serve the Pickering, Ajax and Whitby areas. The service is designed to assist hard- to-employ youth through employinent counselllng, job place- ment and individual support and follow-up. Clients wilI be young men and women with limited education and job experience. Most will have been unem- -ployed for several mon- ths. "This grant from the Ontario Youth Secre- tariat is a fine example of cooperation between the province and local communities," said Gillies. "It is designed to deal with an impor- tant employinent probleni in this provin- ce. Hard-to-employ young people makeup a relatively smail propor- tion of the total youth population, but they represent a large por- tion of the unemployed. We are not only helping these young people through providing em- ployment counselling services, but assisting all of us by helping them to become productive members of society." Other funding part- ners in this employment prograrn are: the Durham Board of Education, the Rotary Clubs of Oshawa- Parkwood and Oshawa and the Probation and Parole Branch f the Ministry of Correctional Services. Grant given* to Durlham Y SALE PRICE $39900 "OUR AIM IS TO SATISFY"I