Whltby Free Press, Weciresday, March 1. 1995, Page 5 Council . cails on minister forhep D keKowaIuld An eleventh-hour plea to retain acute care services at Whitby General Hospital bas been made te Ontaria Heaitb Minister Ruth Grier.. An angry Town council Mon- day calie on Grier te postpone a decîsion on a propsai te convert the 26-year-oldhospital ite a rehabilitation treatment centre t serving Durham Region. The three-part resolution asks Grier te reect a Durham Région District fiealth. Coundil recom- mendation te eliminate acute- care rograms at Wihitby T7he proposaI is containod in a Jstudy of future acute care needs in Durham Region wbich was adopted by the. health council asat week (seseparate story). The resolution also askstha interested parties b. given not bass than 30 days te review the acute care steering. committee repot nd the heih council's rational o approving it, so that aubmissions can be made te the health'counçil and Grier.. In addition, Town council wants the.minister te order the haltb council te hold a public meeting te receive deputatione following the .30-day review period. Approved unanimously, the resolution was p ut forwrd bY. councillor Marcel Brunelle, who until aset November was a mem- ber of the health council. Brunelle attended âsat week's health council meeting but. was prevented from addressing bis- former colleagues on the acute care study issue. "I don t think anybody thore realized they would receive and approve it (report) the same night,» said a stifl flabbergasted -Brunelle. "I think there were many argu- ments the district health council needed to hear but they chose not te,» he said. Amcordin>g te Brunelle,- Whitby General has two important pointseiits favour. "Isone of the most effcient hositals in terms of financéing andit wasn'ta government-im- posed thing, it was. built by. the community,» he said. "The comnmunity therefore had a right te examine the reasons for losina that faclt n ob teld why. t n ob The health council's refusaI te seek further public input reeked "of an odour» and gave, ah .the appearances of befng a «done deal »he charged. Brunelle recalled that last year he. and écouncillor Dennis Fox, foýrmer representatives on the hospital bodard of directers, were accused of «losing our voices» on the rehabilitation issue. «We tried te work through the process and we were ignored by closed doors and closed minds,» hie said. «Well, now the gloves are off. It's time to rise up and lot the minister know how we feel and have been treated.» Fox ecbood Brunelle's com- ments. «There's no rationale or com- mon sense te thie at ail,» hie said. «Ifthe community was stabiliz- ing and not growig, but it's growing and there's room for expansion.» Fox was skeptical that Whitby. will see a rehabilitation centre, ~iynthe governznent's tradi- ialunderfunding of the hospi- tai be said. . ýI have no doubt in my mind Nuclear waste. dump An information session wil be heid i Oshawa on a proposaI te dispose of higbly radioactive nuclear fuel deep within the bard rock of th Canadian Shield. A federal environmentai asseesment panel -will bold the information session on Wednes- day March 8,10 a.m. te, 9 p.m., at the Oshawa Centre. The 22 nuclear power plahts in Canada (20 in Ontario) annuaiiy <77§~§L Coetor Your WOTI4 generate 1,000 tonnes of nuclear fuel waste, in the form of spent fuel roda which are highly radioactive and dangerous te huznanbhealth.. The waste is now stored tom- porarily around the country in hihy secured areas. Burial 500 tel,000 metres deep ini the shield has been proposed as a permanent solution. For more information, caîl 819- 953-2754. 1 ;aeet 4", " ggshell Interior Latex that they'll take -away acute care and not fund reluib and the hospital will eventually close.» FOX said the goerniment is creatiîg a «reai dstrust -axnon g votera» by claiming that the pub-ý lic le involved ini the process. 'Mhe bottom line is that the decisions are made before any petitions'or meetings or discus- sions are held.» Taking note of the faet that a few hours earlier the federai budget was unveiled, Fox agreed that %tugh times cail for tough decisions ... but« only' when they make sense.» Councillor Joe Drumm reitera- ted bis long-held view that the rehabilitation centre proposal was mandated by Queen's Park. Health council and steering committee meeting minutes i- dicate that local MPPs were kept fuliy abreast of the process but there was no mention of int'or- inj municipal councils, Drumi %Tat telle me this is provin- cially-driven,"he said. «I wili go te My grave swearing that the province -decided this is what direction it wili take arid this is what they got.» ý Councilior Judi. Longfield noted that the steering commit- tee report acknowlediges that several key issues muet stili be resolved, such as operating expenses, capital expenditures and staff allocation. «Surely these are the things that should have been looked at weli before* the report was passed,» she said. Longfleld criticized other. Dur- ham Region municipalities for not «coming te, our aid» and suggested that it may be «because they're not touching their hospitals or they're expand- in., L *e also referred te a joint letter of support for the health council recommendations from the three major candidates in Durham West riding -- MPP Jim Wiseman (NDP),Jo Dickson (Liberal) and Janet Ecker (Pro- gressive Conservative). (An expansion of Ajax & Pick- ering Generai Hospital is pro- posed in the report.). "I will be- expressing my con- cerns te the member of my politi- cal party (Dickson) for jumping on the bandwgn so qickly,» said Longfield. Foilowing the meeting, Bruneile rejected *a suggestion that the resolution wiil be given, littie consideratiqn byGrier. "If I thought it would have no effect on the minister, I would not have done.it,» he teld repor- ters. "Due process has not been done here and the minister has the rfight and obligation te, see that due process bas been ser- ved,» he saidi 1If Grier does notsend the "bal bouncing back te, the district he-alth coundil,» then she and the govemment mnust b. preëpared to face the wrath of this com- niunity,» Brunelle added. AUDIO IVEDEGG *VCR *Camcorders Panasonic & Sony Warranty Centre * Stereos *Cassette Fre x, ESTIM1A TErS Custone Electwomuotivo mnc. 1150 Champlain Court - Whitby 668m6946 Rousse au's Winter Upholstery Event Harden, Hickory Chair & Sterling Up To 40% Off A sale for peo pie who appreciate quality as much as they do savings. AI the latest styles and fabrics priced lower than you've seen them in many a season. &UDUMWAU 41CI\~ HERITAGE HOUSE limied .Store 1Ifour%- Mond.ay-Wedne%day 10-6. Thurday-riduy 10-9 Saturday 9:31)-5:30 K Ios<.d Sunda',> 216 Mary Street East * YvhI(by - 1905) 668-3483 ToÇonto Une (905) 686.0061 *1-»0387-0242 370.Brock St. S. 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