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york central hospital cuts staff and beds weekender october 5 1985 p3 by kevin sheehy york central hospital has been forced to lay off 42 staff members and close 34 beds to prevent a 500000 deficit by year end york centrals executive direc tor jim hepburn announced the layoffs at a press conference thursday explaining that the hospital is experiencing financial problems for two reasons an in sufficient increase in operating funds from the ministry of health coupled with a rapidly growing patient load ironically the hospital has re ceived 15 million in additional ministry of health funding last december to open a 34bed unit and another operating room that it previously couldnt afford to staff reading from a prepared state ment mr hepburn- said one problem the hospital has faced is that the inflation rates over the past few years have not been fully funded this year most ontario hos pitals including york central re ceived an increase of approx imately 39 per cent the ontario hospital association determined that hospitals needed 52 per cent to break even during this fiscal year it is this type of financial problem plus our increasing pa tient load that has caused the strain on our budget mr hepburn noted that the hos pital has faced many financial problems in the past year and has tried to be innovative to try to alleviate them mr hepburn and representa tives of the hospitals board of trustees have met with the minis ter of health several times in hopes of obtaining more financ ing but have not been successful cant meet payroll our cash position decreased from april lsts fairly adequate position of 1 1 million to a level of 290000 as of aug 31 1985 he said this cash level will not per mit us to meet biweekly payroll costs of over 850000 without bor rowing on aug 31 the hospital was 233000 in the red and the deficit would grow to 500000 by the end of the year if there werent any layoffs he explained the layoffs which will take effect nov 1 will save the hospit al 490000 enabling york central to be near the breakeven point mr hepburn said the layoffs will result in 34 beds being closed and the hospitals physical rehabilitation depart ment will end all outpatient ser vices as well the hospital has postponed plans to purchase new equipment this does not apply to any equipment purchases by the hospitals foundation the rapid growth in southern york region has significantly in creased the hospitals patient load mr hepburn said he noted that the emergency department handled 45000 cases in 1983 50000 in 1984 and will likely handle 70000 in 1985 costs cut the cost cuts come as a shock he said but admitted the hospital has been concerned ab- out possible financial trouble for some time hospital representa tives have been meeting with the ministry of health since last november he said if job openings do come up at the hospital staff that were laid off will be given first priority to come back he said mr hepburn admitted though that in effect the layoffs are permanent layoffs lome reesor chairman of the board of trustees said it is diffi cult to blame the ministry of health for the hospitals financial woes our own evaluation is that there really isnt enough money in the system and they have a tremendous problem meeting everyones demands mr reesor said york centre mpp don cousens told the liberal that he is upset with cutbacks at york central and vowed to lobby for increased funding for the hospital being punished i want a solution theres no way we can tolerate a cutback in essential services its impera tive that the province accept the responsibility of serving the fas testgrowing community in north america our community is being punished for being a growing community mr cousens said he did not fault the hospital administration for its decision i have a lot of respect for the hospital which is efficiently run as theres no fat in the system he said he has already asked the minister of health to meet with him as soon as possible to review the situation rowe decides not to seek reelection markham school board trustee ear rowe wont be seeking a second term mr rowe who currently repre sents ward 4 has completed one threeyear term on the board ive taken on greater responsi bility in my workplace mr rowe said in an interview he works as an economist with the municipality of metropolitan toronto im confident that someone capable will come forward to run in wards 4 and 5 he said he did not rule out a return to the school board at some future time i really enjoyed it he said of his three years on the york re gion board of education york centre mpp don cousens stands among annan alma walker carla monk and to the several members of his seniors advisory coun- right of mr cousens mary mirkopoulos cil from left are jack mackay audrey paula crowell seniors advisory council group set to study needs senior citizens are an important part of society now and will be an even more significant group as years go by thats why york centre mpp don cousens has established a new council to study their needs mr cousens the shadow cabinet critic for senior citizens affairs has set up the seniors advisory council to help him gather facts on the problems of seniors one of the issues discussed at the first meeting of the council was housing mr cousens said we know there are shor tages of rest homes care beds and chronic care beds but i need to know how serious the problem is and what we can do to solve the present hous ing crisis the council is made up of men and women from across the riding who have experience and interest in senior citizens affairs members include jack mackay hope hol- mestead irene evans audrey annan mary mirkopoulos carla monk joyce stirling vi lamb alma walker jim jackson shirley bur- chell betty leadbeater and alex litt the next meeting of the council will be held in late november mr cousens hopes to meet about four or five times a year to discuss the findings of his council burnett runs for hydro again earl rowe calls it quits bill burnett will be seeking a third term on markhams hydro commission he announced monday the 14year resident of markham is currently vicechairman of the fivemember commission four of the five seats are up for grabs the fifth member is appointed by mar kham council studio 134 still serving studio 134 will continue to serve liquor despite the fact that its li quor licence has not been re newed the tavern was refused a li cence renewal by the liquor li cence board of ontario llbo last week but owner john lazarou has since filed an appeal if the licence had been revoked or suspended there is a provision in the law that allows a stay of the decision until the appeal is heard but town solicitor ray kallio said there is no precedent in the law for an appeal of an unrenewed liquor licence were the town of the opin ion he mr lazarou shouldnt be operating but until the court de cides you cant say whos right hes flaunting the decision of the board and flaunting the law mr kallio said his appeal will be heard by the commercial registration appeal tribunal the next stage at the llbo any action after a decision of the tribunal would go to di visional court the solicitor ex plained mr burnett technical director at unionville high school was first elected in 1980 his other involve ments have included past super visor of the night school at thorn- lea secondary school and past pres ident of the minor hockey associa tion he is also on the markham fair board is a member of union ville alliance church and is a volun teer instructor with st john ambu lance in a press release he noted that hydro issues include a fight for low rates innovative approaches to cost reduction cooperation in attracting new industries updating of services in older areas of mar kham negotiation of purchase of assets from ontario hydro and maintenance of reliable service for markhams high technology firms bill burnett seeking third term call display advertising 2942200 or jenni hull 2948244 1985 flyers delivered to sept 1 economist suntribune 6141500 metrolsnd distributing 37 755 500 ken schick we deliver supplements flyers with weekender hillcrest mall mr grocer kmart tuesoct 8 sears