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Copps Liberal health critic More beds, new program needed to help hospitals by Murray Moore The cure for the overcrowding at MHuronia District Hospital and other hospitals in Ontario is an increase in the number of nursing home beds and the start of a chronic care home program, Sheila Copps, the provincial Liberal party health critic, said in Midland on Wednesday. Copps cited statistics from a new report of a committee headed by John Chantrel that concludes that 161 individuals are on waiting lists for a nursing home bed in this area, to support her argument for the need for more nursing home beds and a chronic care home program. On an average day, 14 patients who could be in a nursing home or at home are occupying active care beds at HDH, Copps said. Copps criticized BOND (Business Oriented New Development), a_ provincial government program through which the province's hospitals are supposed to be able to raise as much as $20 million to use for daily expenses. She was critical of the province leaving it up to hospitals to find money on their own to make up any shortfall between operating expenses and operating funds. HDH administrator Ted Pritchard said following her speech to Midland Rotarians that his statement that HDH would open a pub to raise money, referred to by Copps in her speech, was not made seriously. He did confirm Copp's statement that the projecied deficit for HDH by the end of this fiscal year will be $600,000. The hospital's deficit was $100,000 at the end of the 1982 fiscal year, he said. Copps has toured over 20 hospitals in 15 communities in the past four months as part of a Liberal fact-finding project. Only in Tim- mins do patients have to wail as many days for because, Copps said, of Ministry of Health in- ierference. "The district health councils should have had ihe wherewithal to stand up io ihe Ministry. of Health" and participate in ihe Liberal examinations of the staie of hospitals, the Hamilton Centre MPP said. Simcoe County does not have a health council. There exists a need 'to reallocaie, to regenerate, and to pay ihe price ito keep the level of health care up,"' Copps said. Hospital boards should not be in the business of making regular bed opens has money to run hospitals. not been uncommon. Copps was crilical of admittance as they have _ district health councils. she said. And how would a group like Rotary raise money in had to wail at times for Representatives of ihe community for admittance to HDH, she ihese "supposedly in- said. This yeara waitof dependeni needed new equipment bodies' if people kirew that the three to five days inthe didn't accept Liberal money will likely in- HDH emergency area or its corridors by patients before a visits to invitations during her committee's operating costs?, she to speak stead be spent on daily hospitals, asked. Town of Penetanguishene, Township of Tiny Chamber of Commerc DIRECTOR Due to an increase in membership, the Penetanguishene Chamber of Commerce will be taking applications for additional directors. The expansion will allow interested community members to become actively involved in establishing policies and to offer leadership in the Chamber of Commerce. You are invited to send written applications to: Penetanguishene Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 90, Penetanguishene, Ontario. LOK 1P0 Wage 2, Friday, June 4, 1982 Lourdes addition to be tendered The contract to build an addition to Our Lady of Lourdes School] will be put out to tender this month. Local trustee Joe Klein Gebbinck said Monday that he doesn't expect that work on the addition will be completed before next December, and that students won't start using the addition until next January. The board is financing the addition without any help from the Ministry of Education. Neither of the applications made this year either the Simcoe County Roman Catholic Separate Schoo] Board, or from the Simcoe MIDLAND on Hwy. 27, next to Zellers Plaza situ 131-5062 County Board of Education, for capital construction grants, were accepied by the Ministry for next year. Klein Gebbinck recounted a conversation he had with Minister of Education Dr. Bette Stephenson. 'Joe, she said,' look ai it this way. More areas need new schools than need additions. We prefer to place schools in areas that don't have them first."' The addition will give Our Lady of Lourdes School three additional classrooms, bul a fourth is needed, the trustee said. 526-4231 parryi: