Page 12, Whitby Free Press, Wednosday, JuIy 13. 1994 'Dotos esond to "indeirstanding" To the editor. We physiciens of Whitby General Hospia regret having te publicly contradict a member of our own hospital's board. However, Mr. Brunelle's allegation that noe Whitby physician has worlced in the hospital (emergency depertment) since 1989, is quit. simply, false. We are obliged, te correct his misunderstanding. Tha chief of emargency services, Dr. D'Angélo, is a Whitby family physician who works ragular shifts in the ernergency depertment. Another W'ihtZr hysiias retired from suc woe oly astyear, havng worked there since the- hospital opened.* Ail of the family physicians associated with WGH take turns on cal te provide back-up te, the docter in the emergency depertment, if the work loed becomes tee, great for him or her te, handie alone. Furtherrnore, every family docteir tekes a turn as the "on cali physician" who will assume responsibility for patients admitted through the mergency depertmant who do nýt elraady have a ' primary cere doctor associeted with Whitby General. The specialista of the department of internai medicine roided round-the-clock, three hundred and sixty-five day a yeer on-call coverage te, the amergency department until the hospital management recently decidad te, close emergency between 10 p.m.n and 8 a.m. These specialist; continue te, provide on-cali coverage fer emergency, and the ward when the emergency room is closed at night. Mr. Brunelle's second nileconceptien concerna the use of professionel emergentelogiets from Medemerg Incorporated. He appears te imply that there is something unusual or superfluous about such an arrangement, and that money could be saved if famuly physiciens did aIl the emergency work. He is miisinformed. Gone are the days when the average famnily docter could safely cover en emergency departmnent. While' it is true that many Oshawa plan won't work To the. editor. I arn writing this lettar in responsa te the «'acute cere study' daveloped by the district health ceuncil and spearhaadad by the steering committea. It is daplorable that such a study recommend the closure of ail acute care bads and al amergancy services in Whitby. It is ebsolutely unbelievable that the staaring committae hes net been able te se. that Oshawa's monstrous picture of "Oshawa wiIl take care of everyone" cannot in the lightest way work. Putting hospitel egainst hospital is net the issue I want te, addrass. The issue is that what works on paper is impossible te, dliver. Thera are only four walls at Oshawa Genaral and oe muet be able te eperate at a cradible levaI within those four walls. In order for Oshawa te, accept ail the people of Durham (minus a few from Ajax and Bowmenville) who raquira services -- such as surgary maternity, padiatrics, dialysis, long-terni car., cardiology, neurology, embulatory care, enlergancy, psychiatry, intensive car., coronary care and othars tee numerous te mention, and now a proposed brand new cancer traatmnent centre -- the four walls will have te be expanded or something will break, right? It's quite clear what will break -- quality of care, the number one concern of the district health couneil. The quality of care is, et this point, alraady compromised. The wait in emergancy is fer too long now, and that is beforethe status que changes. Ail of you who arrive et Whitby General emergency tell us se. In order fer quality of cere net te decline any further, expansion is the alternative. Citizans of Oshawa, you cen kiss your Alexandra Park goodbye and, residents living around the erea of the hospitel, y u will à wemped with traffic. Hwcen the Ministry of Héalth, the district health council and the stearing committee consider closing down an existing facility te save money and thon build an expansion, cesting far more, on anoýther facility? If Oshawa became the cancer treatment centre (which is much neaded) and aIse hed highly specialized services, could WIhitby General not be given more of the wmbulatory care or lasser emergencies that are currently at Oshawa, tharaby allowing the WVhitby facility's walls te expand? A steering committee in my mind does just that -- it steers.' Ail CEOs, physicians, staff and public should have had 15 months te be heerd from, with the steering committee as the helmsman. I sey te the steering committee: 'Don't îlay political games and don't b. Vushwhacked by one who is." If the health ministry truly was interested in "regionalizing' health care, why wes Ajex-Pickaring fundad for a ~sychiatrie expansion on thair osia hich opened only a few months ago, whan only seven Ilometres down the road, the largest psychiatric- institute known te menkçind, just clebrated thair ground-breaking? Mary Pollard Whitb~y The Whitby n Restaurant & Sports Bar WORLD CUP SOCCER SPECIAL FINAL 20 wlngs & *Vgof beer $1200 Satelliten TVI a Tnma WaIame patients have miner complaints typical of these presenting to any walk-in clinic, the emergency department also' sees life- threatening heart attacks, strekes, diabetic comas, injuries and the lic.. S uch severe ilînesses are neyer seen in a famfly doctor's office. Medical technolog1 available to treat acuteyi i patientsais far more advanced t"dy than itý was twenty years ago. 1 1 In response to these new realities, the speciality of emergency department medicine han developed. Most major hospitals new employ either certified specialists in emergency medicine, or general physiciens with special intereet, for whom emergency work constitutes a mejor portion of their prefessional practice. A ph sician who works oyocaona shifts in emerg is unlikelyte get enoughexpeence te maintain adeuatesefety and SUciIS. Reliance on Medemerg Incorporated is net in the least unusual. This company provides fuil-time emergency rOOM coverage te twenty-two hSpitals in Ontario, including one major teaching centre. In addition, they previde part-time coverage te numerous other hospitals including several other Ontarie teaching hospitals during timies when they were understaffed. In,-conclusion, Mr. Brunelle's assertion that Whitby physiciens have net served the Whitby General'a hespital emergency department since 1989 is wrong. He appears te be unaware of the countless heurs of service that continue te be provided te our hespital's emerrn7r dermn by Wbitb3?s ami physniins and specialista. Secondly, he is uninformed about the requirements of modern emer- gency room practice. We hope that pointing out these facts wilI avoid future misunderstandings. Neil ]EL McAlster, Naresh Kuinar, Anthony D'Ange1o% eijamiin H%~ Batu Malek Somehow, we'l1 pay To the editor: I have read with interest the. lattera and articles about the possible change of. plans for Whitby Generel Hospital. As a citizen of Wihitby for sevaral years, racently forced te moya, and a former member of a district health council, I am aniused, amazad end cencernad with meny of the things being written. The day we, as citizens of Canada, in our concarn about heaith car. for ahl, perniitted the govrnmant te pass the National Health Act, wa should hava realized that problanis would follow. Since gevernmants in general would have difflculty in running a shoeshine stand efficiently and economically, how could wa expect them te run something as big as haalth care. ICALL VAN HEMEUIE Net As Illustrated iDinig Room Specials1, iBuy one entrée et regular price 1 * get 2nd entrée a ~AT 1/2 PRICE A EquaIoesor rvaWu. Nto be ued wNh her* I specials. Expires Augua 31, 1994. - - - - - - - - - AMERITECH ST P205X70RX15 $85.00 lnstalled & Balancegd 100,000km Road Hazard Warranty VAN HEMMEN TIRES & SALES 3 î- The first few years, whan nioney was easy for them to get, health care, 0H11>, etc., lookad great. But now we flnd, when monay is tight, it. isn't quite se great. Now governmants want te cut back on the costs, and rationelization of. services becomes oe of the buzz words. And it cen only g6L worse. I suspect -tat the change in opérations r commended for. WGH is part of this, that is, close the ecuta care sections of WGH, open the antire facility te rehab., trensfer the reheb freni Oshawa and Ajax te Whitby te make space for more acute rahab beds. The theory hera is efficiency and economy through specialization. Whareas I concur with those such as Dr. Hobbs who question the necessity of 1124 administrative and suparvisory personnel". and who believe savings could bemade here, it is not the WGH budget that is the problem, it is the ovaral poicial hospital expense. Tre mare feet that WGH has spaca"' for expansion while Oshawa's expansion would cost a bundle te get land has ne impact on government thinking. The fact that Durhami has a hospital board for each hospital, tepped by a district haalth council, and eech of these has highly paid* CEOs and/or executive directors, is just the wa ernments have been usad t(e parating. It is possible, aven probable, that ahi the démonstrations, groups and committees may be able. te influence ,tue governmnente' decisions. Believe me, wb will pay for it somehow. Instead ef arguing only about keaping ecute care et WGH,ý we ail should b. demending that the government reduce the unnecessary adminiâtrative costs, the lagions of staff required te, operate that administrative nightmaea and cut down on the numbers of staff, highly paid, whe visit the hospitals te, check up on their operations. Then, end only then, should changes be exemined. We, the people, will stili pey. W. J. Gaiger Oshawa CLEANING OUTSIDE WINDOWS For miany of us, cleaning outside windlows means two things - wet sleeves from the cold water wunning down our arm and getting the ladder to fit windows which are always at inconvenient heights. Fortunately, with the addition of a few convenient tools, you cani now wash wtindlows as high as 25 feet in the air quickIy and easily while standing on the ground. Ail that is required is a ightweight telesopic alumninumn pole, a windowv brush and a window squeegee - the same tools the professionals use. Simply mix a solution of Swish Sparide glass and window deaner in water, apply the solution to the window wiUi tthe brush, remnove the brush from thie friction fit pole, attach the squeegee and squeegee the lAnndoaw dry. You wiII have an enire panel of streak free sparkling wvindows in less than 2 minutes.* And there's no trarrpling through fiower gardens, rio wet sleeves and no faling off laddes. Ifs eas, nexesve and the It lass a liftimne. Corne on dlown to Sish eCleannit Centre. We're the experts'in cleaning and maintenance.- 500 Hopkins Street, Whitby 666-224