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Attendant claims changes are making Oak Ridge less safe A 17-year Oak Ridge at- tendant said last Friday he and other attendants are frustrated by what he described as growing em- phasis on the hospital aspect of the maximum security Oak Ridge psychiatric hospital. Garry Lenehan, a former president of the union local which represents the Ridge's 220 attendants, said that the "big push" to make Oak Ridge look and feel like a hospital is at the expense of security. "If I went from Oak Ridge to Penetanguishene General Hospital and said I would run PGH like Oak Ridge, it couldn't be done. I don't expect PGH to go to Oak Ridge and say, 'Run it like a hospital.' " Attendants with many years of experience have been replaced by registered nurses as the top authority on Oak Ridge's psychiatric wards. The nurses are be- ing used as window dress- ing by the authorities, Lenehan said. An RN's training is mostly medical; they don't have the ex- perience or educational background needed to work with psychiatric pa- tients, he claims. The atten- dants are the only group which deals with the pa- tients 24 hours a day. Unified nursing is taking precedence over the welfare of Oak Ridge pa- tients, he said. The RNs are "victims" too. Placing nurses in charge of wards is part of a move to change the atmosphere inside Oak Ridge. But Lenehan claims nurses are wasted inside Oak Ridge because only the small part of their training involving psychiatric nursing is of use in that setting. Mean- while Huronia District Hospital, he said, and Toronto hospitals, need RNs. New uniforms to be in- troduced for the attendants will cost attendants some of their authority, and possibly contribute to their injury, he said. The attendant's uniform of authority - figure blue shirt and grey pants is go- ing to be replaced with a red shirt and grey pants. The shirt is a type that wouldn't look out of place on a golfer or a jogger, he said. In practical terms, from one end of a ward, at- tendants and patients will be less distinguishable in the event of a disturbance. Patients can wear whatever clothing they like. Informal clothing will have a detrimental psychological effect too, he said. 'If policemen walked around with golf shirts in- stead of uniforms, would you know they were policemen?" Several severe assaults and a stabbing of one pa- tient by another patient have happened since authority in the wards passed to the nurses, Lenehan said. "Everything seems to be changing. The patients don't like what they are seeing either," with the ex- ception of the patients who try to take maximum ad- vantage of ttéir environment. Lenehan called for a way to assign responsibility for the release of a patient when that patient's release is followed by an incident. Where is the government's responsibility, he asked? The government has to be held responsible for the result of releasing patients who should not be releas- ed. The government is be- ing "sucked in' by psychiatrists and psychologists, Lenehan said. The surrounding com- munity is becoming part of the treatment of Oak Ridge patients. The Mental Health Centre which in- cludes Oak Ridge is the town's largest employer. "It's nice to have clean dollars, clean air, but there's always a payoff somewhere," Lenehan warned. "Social workers and psychologists working in Oak Ridge are being paid for nothing," Lenehan said. People in a controll- ed setting such as Oak Ridge do exactly as they are told. Their behaviour, when they are free, can't be predicted in a closed setting. ""We're paying a lot of professional people for nothing." Lenehan's opinion is that only one in 15 psychiatric patients' mental problems can be helped. Management is the worst he has seen in his 17 years. Of his successor as union local president, Lenehan said, "No one is very hap- py with him right now." Comparing the physical environment of Oak Ridge and the Barrie Jail, Lenehan called Oak Ridge the Hilton of the North. "You're better to murder someone to go to Oak Ridge than sit in the dungeon at the Barrie Jail." Lenehan has concerns 'about the release of pa- tients, concerns which he can't state in "public because of the oath of secrecy which prevents Oak Ridge employees from talking about patients. Oak Ridge employees, for ex- ample, can't answer as simple a question as whether a particular in- dividual is a patient. Lenehan is suspicious that the government wants Oak Ridge to be un- workable in order to have an excuse to close it. WILLIAM P. TAWS, LL.B. and MARK E. KOWALSKY, B.A., LL.B. are pleased to announce the relocation of their law offices under the name TAWS, KOWALSKY ASSOCIATES Barristers, Solicitors, Notaries at 362 Midland Avenue P.O. Box 787 Midland, Ontario L4R 4P4 (705) 526-7865 Effective Date: September 14, 1987 Dan Waters Your New Democrat MUSKOKA GEORGIAN BAY for Fighting for Fair Auto Insurance and Fair Taxes "For rides to polls Please call: Campaign Headquarters 510 Bay St., Midland 526-7034 Page 10, Tuesday, September 8, 1987 HILDREN PLAYING 4 Inside looking out : Stephanie Vaillancourt was happy to stay still last | Wednesday for a passing Midland Times photographer. She and her fellow Prime Time Nursery School friends were enjoying out of doors a fine September day. 7) "e,, Interruption Ontario Hydro wishes to announce there will be a 3 hour power interrup- tion from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Thursday, September 10, 1987. In the case of inclement weather an alternate date will be established and : the interruption will be readvertised. Areas affected: Fuller Avenue, Portage Park, Gilwood Bay, all of the Midland Point Area and Present Island. We regret this inconvenience to our customers, however, this interruption is required to connect a new Distribu- tion Station which will improve ser- vice to your area.