The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Future roe ofhospital discussed FATHER LEO J.' AUSTIN Catholij Secondary Schaal students Tosha Dairan (left) and Pallie Boissoin peer out from under one of the many piles of food collected in the schaol's Christmas basket drive. Students collected cash, food, cia- thing, household items and toys which were delivered ta same 40 Whitby and Oshawa families last week. Photo by Mark Reesor, Whitby Free Press SCouncil reverses position on Waller St. stop s'ign By Mike Kowall Public pressure bas foroed Town council te rescind a centre- versial decision rejecting multi- waystoihgnston Waller Street. heursafter vting.,net te instail a three-way steop where a Whitby girl was kiiled last nionth, ceuncil last Wednesday approved a multi-way step at the intersection cf Waller and RoI- ling Acres Drive. Iii fact, signs were up the following morning since public works staff bad lready erected sinposta and painted lines on teroad the previeus week in anticipation cf a faveurable rul- ing from council last Monday. However, that ruling was net ferthooming and angry area resi- dents spent the next two days voicing their diapleasure te, three counciilors who voted against the si :a result, deputy mayer Joe Druxnin called an emergency «elosed-dooi9 meeting Wednesdy and council unanimnously reversed the. decision made two Mayor Tom Edwards and counicillor Judi Longfield, who were absent fromn the regular Monday meeting, were also not present fer the Wednesday ses- sion. «Ail of council realized that this went eff the rails Monday night,» said a pleased councillor Dennis Fox following Wednes- dais vote. "To council's credit, tecaine together in a time of adesity. The right decisien was made and the community well served,» he said. Earlier in the week, Fox, whose east ward takes in the Waller Street area in northeast Whitby, had a slightly different opnin of the councillors wbo initially opposed the multi-way 5eLling ceuncillors Marcel Brunelle, Ross Batten and Don Mitchell "idiots" for voting agrainst the multi-way step, Fox chiallenged them te defend their actions te the dead girl's faxnily. Martha Beale, a nine-year-old student at St. Mark The Evnels School, was struck and killed by a pickup truck while croasing Waller at Rolling Acres on Nov. 16. Corrado Gennuso, 36, of Wal- ler Street, wbo was charged with dangereus driving causing death and careless driving in connec- tien with the incident, had been scheduled te appear in court yesterday (Tuesday). Following the girl's deatb, more than 600 area residents signed a petition requesting multi-way step signs net only at Waller and Rolling Acres, but at other locations in the vicinity. Altbeugh a staff report noted that traffic flow in the area does net warrant stop signa and in- stalling thern weuld be contrary te Town guidelines, council's ope- rations committee felt otherwise. On Dec. 6, comimittee,- recoin- mended installing a multi-way stop at Waller and Rolling Acres, stationing a crossing guard near the school, andbhavng staff explore other methods of slowing traffic. But Batten, Brunelle and Mit- chell opposed the multi-way stop SUE PAGE 13 By Mike Kowalski A report expected early in the new year may recemmend cbang- ing the rele of Wihitby General Hospital. Although it bas yet te be draf- ted, a soen-to-be-cenipleted study of acute care health services in Durham Region ceuld have far- reaching implications for the hospital's future. Under consideration is a pro- posai that the 24-year-old hospi- tai be converted te a facihity devoted solely te the practice of rehabilitative medicine. .Services associated with a general hospital would ne longer be effered in Whitby should the prpsaI, if endorsed yteDr h an Rgin District Health Council, *e approved by the Ontario govemnment. While hospital officiais and those invelved with the study admit that -Whitby General s future rôle- bas been discussed, they' stress that ne decisiens have been mnade. The hespital will continue te operate -as it bas for the im- mediate future, The Free Press bas been teld. "There is a regional study look- in at long-terni care,» explained Witby General. chief executive officer Elizabeth Barton. But any discussions concerning the hospital should be considered more as "food for thought» at this point, than anything else, Barton said. 'The steering conimittee hasn't even made its recommendation. Were certainly a long, ion g way (from any decision),» she said. .The committee, chaired by for- mer Brock Township inayor Aflan McPhail, is part of an overaîl initiative aimed at deve- loing a regional plan for Dur- ham bospitals. The acute care study was te have originally been submitted te the health council in October, but it will net likely be presented until February or March. Emphasizing that «ne changes are imminent," Barton dismissed a suggestion that in order te prepare fer the pending switch te a rehabilitative facility, the hos- pital's emergency epatent will be closed next year. She said some hospital physi- cians and others may be «perpe- tuating misinformation" and may net be fully aware of the commit- tee's deliberations. But accedingte at leas' one docter, futturenpi ans for the hos- tal are more than mere specu- Iati on. «It's probab, the worst kept secret in tewn,iysaid Dr. Anthony D'Angelo, secretary-treasurer of the bospital's medical staff. "The nurses ail know, everyone knows ,» he said. However, D'Angelo declined te be more specific. 'T]ve given it some thought, but rd rather wait until it (report) becomes official ... unfor- tunately it leaked early,» he said. D'Angelo said local docters have been asked net te comment on the what the study may pro- p ose, but preferred not te ela- borate. Dr. Brian Reed, hospital chief of staff, was net available for imTnediate comment. SE£ PAGE 8