-Pag"~,,V*itbyfres Press, Wednesdy. October 27,1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whtby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: ONTARIO CANADIAN IfCOMMUNITY ACOMMUNITY ~INEWSPAPER L*CNANEWSPAPER -MASSOCIATION CASSOCIATION [IM m CANADIAN E~J-~UCIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Pubtished every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario mc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario LiN 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pif her - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager, Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% 0/ recycled content using vegetable based inks.tu To theedor. Why more bureaucracy? C) Al writen material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protecte Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express the newspaper ls prohibited and Is a violation of Canadian Copyriht law. ReF non-commercial distribution should bear a credit line 1th e Witby Frec Fight back To the Editor: IR is lime that the citizens of Ontario and especially those of the Whitby area rise up and tell the Ontario government that enough is enough. They have gone too far in the ernasculalion of the heallh cars system. For the past f ive mont hs, I have spent a very large prin of each d a i th, WhiptýtGeneral Hspital and I have seen first-hand whet the Draconian hand 0f the NDP government has dons to our local hospital. More than 22 beds have already closed and anoîher 16 prograrnmed to follow soon. mergency room services are being examined closely for some chopping. Other services are being curtailed or are being considered for deletion. AIl this is because the government has told the hospital that they must chop about $400 000 from their budget or else. Balance the books with that much Isss or face fines- of $1.000 per day or more. And how were the cuts, made by the great geniuses of the NDP, arrivsd ai? Did they tae into consideration past performances of sach hospital in balancing their books at the amount set by governmen? Did lhey consider how much a hospilal had run aver budget ln the past and had to be bailed out by gavernment? I think net. The grand total decreed for heafth care/hospitals was divded as a per cent of budget so no bensful was considered for the excellence of operating wthin old budgets. Whftby had run close ta or wihin their budget for years, so instead of having seme fat ta cul, it ail carne out of the lean. Typucal bureaucratid lhinking. And what they have dons ta the morale in the health cars f ield, especially nursing, is nething but cruel. S0 far the patients have suffered littîs. Speaking of bureaucrats - have written to the Premier and the Minister of Health and asked how much paperwork had been cul and how many heatth department civil services jobs had been culta help meet the reduced financial req uiremerts. No answers yeî, but I arn informed that the generating from the continues to groý hospitals, clinics, dc health cars operations staffs fair in excess oft private companies wo run an operation of ai size. Thus, cutbacks the NDP government borne by the heafth prc I am well aware th country and a provir longer afford the plurr systemn that we have b to. The money isn't C the people must stanc for a reasonable mode the expenditures. Why should the providers suffer inefficiencies of goverr "holdtthe1 area, if they so wish( and obtain the neces- to assist their local1 maintain ils ability req uired cars? If the Whitby hospili service clubs in the arE for their support 10 n $400,000 needed to service that gov. deîeling, even if the cli the government wot Democracy ae work. I arn forced to woui just how hard 1he governors and the adn aur hospital, andi hospitals and hE agencies, rsally foughi recent measures. I h, much flek coming frc boad, asking for heIF from the catchment ar I suggsst thaït Qi down and dirly. and fiç out and gel the pi them. Tell it like it is want even longer wî want emergency servi close 10 home -- ifi hospilals dlean, el available -- then every the govemment knouu Thon we must tel we are prepared to dc -- after lhey dlean uj red tape, fraud, abus other things. Let's get behind th cars system and atti are bousing il up. ed by copyright. ;s permission of production for To the Edîtor: )ewes We, the commerciaV/private health care providers of Durham rn Region, are writing in response to the NDP's policy of a not-for-profit delivery system of community-based health care in Ontaro. . For more than 10 years in the region, commerciaVprivate provi- ders have had an excellent reîationship with the homecare program. W e were developed to paperwork provide flexible, quality-based depariment heath care to people in their W, forcing homes. Ctors and ail We* realized that in-home care s to maintain was and is a seven-day-per- week, thbse which 24-hour-per-dayne and we ould need to have successully met that in equiva4ent challenge. As clients' needs decreed by change, so do we. t are being Why then would the NDP ovider staffs. *government want to spend $100 riat we as a million for a transition to set up the nce can no same service delivery, but only in n health care the not-for-profit sector? Could become used not these heath care dollars be here. But we better utilized? Why eliminats a I Up and fight group of qualified, experienced, e of reducing trained prof essionals merely on the basis of political ideology?. heath care Yes, we run private businesses. for the This is an asset to our economy, ,nments, past not a liability. We pay taxes which help stimulate our communities, as people of an well as investing in resources and ed, work for knowledge in Ontarlo's economy. ssary funding Our clients only pay for the hospital and direct service they receive from us. to provide We do not have t he government to fund our deficits if at year-end we aI went to ail find we have miscalcuîated. Deficit ,ea and asked funding is funded by ail of us.. miake up the through our tax dollars. provide the CommerciaVprivate providers ,ernment is make only a rne- to two-per cent lubs said yes, profit on thri services we provide, uld say no. and most of that is p ut back into our companies in order ta provide rider, as weîî, continuous training and upgrading e board of for our staff. rinstration of Why would the NDP many other government of Ontario implement ealth care a not-for-profit policy when the t against the same policy had failed in îaven't heard Manitoba? Manitoba has now :m the WGH realized that they have created a :and support delivery system tied up in red tape irea. and is, now inviting the private, ie board get commercial providers back. ight back. Get Do we really need another ublic behind government-run bureaucracy _ -- if we dont especiaîly one that wiIl not only rais -- if we control the finances but aiso the ices available delivery of the service? we want our The government has spent ifficient and millions of dollars setting up yone must let consultation groups that pretend itR. to listen to the needs of the ll them what people. This money would have o to pay for it been better used to provide the ip their act -- assistance required to enable our se and mnanY f rail, elderly and disabled citizens to remain in their homes. he real heath We had a petition from 15 areas or those who of Ontario read in the House of Commons to ask for a balanced mix of service provision between W.J. Galger not-for-profit and commercial Whltby service providers. The result was the government decided to allow commercial providers to deliver up to 10 per cent of government-funded homemaking hours. f your area currently provides 85 per cent of those hours, what will a 75 per cent reduction do to your business? The answer is very clear. We believe in free enterprise and freedom of choice. Our clients deserve to have choice as t0 who will provide their mn-home health cars. With the NDP policy, ail choice is removed. Clients will receive what the government determines they need, as well as who wilI provide the cars. Commerciaprivate providers employ over 800 people in Durham Region, most of whom are female and members of visible minorities. What are their guarantees of future employment under the proposed system? To the Editor: In utter disgust, I heard recently that Floyd Laughren, the provincial Treasurer, was getting wbad vibesr that thers is going 10 be a shortf al in the pravince's projected savings lhrough the social contract. He therefore fet Ihat there may be tex increases and additional cutbacks or a higher deficit. With the pay decrease thae has been forced upon ail Ontario public service empîoyees already, the government has saved' approximately $95 million. This figure is based on staff complement of $950,000 and an approximals loss of $100 per day deduction loss per employes. 50 with this arnount of savings, what is the govemment doing with our monsy? The approximate $95-milîion savings reflects the gavsrnment's savings thraugh ans pay period. As far as we have been 'made aware, these pay culs are ta The government has already stated displaced hospital workers will be given priority for re-employment in the system. Where do our employees fit in? What are their guarantees? Do we not still live in a democratic Society? We are concerned that the decision by the NDP government adversely affects al residents, not only in Durham but throughout Ontario. We urge you to become informed and involved. W. McKay, manager Para-Med Health Services J. O'Llnk, manager ComCare Ltd. J. Jones, admînîstrator DHS Health Cars Service P. Polyzotîs, manager CAPS P. Hîllard, manager Med+Care Partnershlp continue for the nexl 14 pays. This wiIl give the government a total payroll savings alone 0f approximalely $152 billion. Sa they have saved this much money in payroîl alone. But these figures do net include other savings through attrition, job depletion and other general savings practices. What boîhers me, as a taxpaying citizen, is the total needless and recklsss spending that this government continues bo practise. Vet Mr. Laughrsn feels bad vibes that he can't save enough. What. about looking mbt his govemment's packet f or the extra cutbacks and quit taking il out of my packet -- it's already empty. And remember the aid saying, 'you can't gai blaaod from a stone.' Stane dry from Bob Ras and > hîs people AnIta Jane Wostwood Newcastle $11 ,678 raised 'at festival To the Edîtor:11 On behalffof Fairview Lodge, we would like 10 express our sincere epprecial ion to you and your employees for your support of our fourth Annual Summer Festival on Saturday, August 28, 1993. The ongoing dedication and support f rom the Whitby community continues 10 play a vital roIs in the success of 1he day. Ws are pleased 10 inform you that an estimated 5,000 people were in attendance and we raised $11,678.37. Vour team is ta be commnended for the advertising, promotion and coverage of the festival. You have been a great supporter of the festival as well as a trus 'Friend of Fairview.' Thanks again and we hope you will be able to work with us again for next year's event. Debble Brown and Heather Tlmi Co-ChaIrs, Festival Commtte. Sharon Swaln Admînîstrator Falrvlew Ladge Whitby Leave my pocket alone