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jwr a4jeb6disimstoufrv ctte toi-i- iece o v i test used to determine where heart dis- i eais6ccurring a together with thecathlabthe other 2 aspects of the cardiac centre will boost i the hospitals staff by at least 50 people and require a 15million injection of capital funding tocreate the appropri- ate facilities- x the designation of the cardiac cen tre ended the year on a bright note for health careintheregion a year plagued by underfunding and over crowded facilitiesafesultofcbping with a booming population j c in late june york region hospitals cashed in on the provincial govern- foxing week blowout entire stocks christmas merchandise velours pannes velvets velveteens fashion polyester solids prints metallic lace fabrics rayon prints burnouts enti imd ppmotiontjl good not included now all entire instore stock mccalls vogue butterick j burda patterns ortivua osc 2731 ism only 1fi priced off our original pr1ces i customer appreciation thank ybu savings dtcecntw 2731 w98 onlyl two great spedabl i special selection promotional biwdaoaothonurwcm special selection poutesteivccmon printsonly 99m both 115cm wide quantities limited while quantities last sale in effect dec 2731 1 998 on iivslbck merchandise only most items bvqilable in most stores look for the red sole togs where competitive pricing applies the advertised sovingswill be off pur regular chainstore price 8573 mccowsn rd north east corner of hwy 7 markham 4711610 open sundays noon 5 pm menfs largest reinvestment anriounce- ment in ontarios healthcare system good news for residents and local hospital officials who feared the possibility of bed closures and service cuts j yorkcentral in richmond hill was granted189 million to expand its emergency obstetrical and critical- care departments york county hospital mnewrharket gained 158 jnilliori forlimprovernent to its emer- gehcy arid criticalcare departments while markham stoufmile hospital received 73 million to expand its emergency department r announcements of funding for longterm care and other healthrelat ed initiatives flowed but local officials welcomed them with caution ques- tioning whether the dollars would actually materialize at markham stouffville a regional speech and language program to bene fit toddlers was launched almost a decade after programs were severely cut in the region at york county the focus was to become the next cardiac centre in ontario it was a dream hospital president dan carriere envisioned four years ago when the hospital issued its strategic plan naming cardiac care including diagnostic and surgical services as a prime area of focus no one outside the hospital thought they were serious its not often a strategic plan sees the light of day let alone see it become reality i have the feeling a lot of people didnt know how serious we were but people in this hospital arent sur prised he said the hospital board approved the strategic plan with the knowledge we- would be pursuing it aggressively and the board gave carriere the green light to go after the cardiac centre using unusual means trusting that his was the right approach in march the hospital began per forming cardiac pacemaker implants and partnered with general electric to install a catheterization unit without first obtaining approval from- the health ministry at thesame time a heart education program and chest pain clinic was up and running when we got into this we acknowl edged we were breaking new ground and couldnt afford to failhesaidbut unfortunately maybe for all the wrong reasons people were waiting to point the finger we knew at every turn there were people watching and we could not have room for failure in our strate gy- the medical community watched with curiosity and even anger suggesting york county was being too aggressive in its pursuit of the cardiac unit it had become the biggest challenge of carrieres career in january february and march there were a lot of people who objected to how we were doing things that was pretty well the worst time feel ing the whole tiling was on your shoul ders and the only people supporting it was the board staff and the patients getting service recalls carriere a teaching hospital official even told him to his face that his plan would never fly we were rocking the boat no doubt about it and it was felt right through metro toronto and around the province people wanted to know what we were doing and how carriere said critics skeptical that a community hospital could provide such a service must be educated to understand that a better outcome doesnt necessarily come from a bigger facility can there be excellence in small centrcsthatsourvisiohforthis hospi tal he said during an open house york county held for the public in june hospital board chairperson tom mcpherson acknowledged the vicious debate that had been raging over the cardiac cen tre to show the ministry york county could be the provider of cardiac care the hospital partnered with general electric and installed the 16- million cathiab everithoughtheyknew it couldnt ireused vy ff now red can be your colour mi this boxing week save an additional 30 off already reduced redtagged merchandise in all departments for example other stores regular price prfit winners everyday low price 35 winners redtag price 2etj boxing week red tag price 17 winners brand name labels without brand name prices the boxing week red tag event starts dec 26th through dec- 3ist now 28 locations in toronto call 1800646winn for the nearest store location and boxing week hours were pioneers and pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs but we believe in what youre trying to do mcpherson said to carriere cameras theory was me more heart services york county could offer the better chance it had to become the next regional cardiac centre 5 provincial officials halted the pace- maker service after york county had installed the device in nine patients but late in november when carriere was questioning if his gamble had been worth all the risk he received a person al call from health minister elizabeth winner informing him his hospital would be the next regional cardiac centre to observers and the regions other two hospitals the announcement came as a complete shock the location of a cardiac centre was under review by the district health- council in fact the steering commit tee hadnt even had a meeting yet in the spring of 1997- markham stouffville and york central had sub mitted a proposal that outlined a plan for a catheterization lab at sunnybrook health science centre with service des- ignated for york region residents both markham stouffville and york central had argued that the centre did nt belong in the northern part of the region york countys plan however was an aggressive push for a madeinyork region solution that put a cardiac cen tre in the newmarket hospital which would service residents from as far away as muskoka carriere says he saw the writing on the wall when the tories made it clear they supported service close to home and the markham stouffvilleyork central plan didnt play into that phi losophy i believe theres a good possibility we would have had nothing for this region as far as cardiac services go carriere said the district health council had just begun reviewing the options a process that was to take at least six months when the announcement came from witmer i think everybody is scratching their heads over the process it came out of the blue said markham stouffville hospital acting president jim maclean who made the decision obviously it was a very political deci sion and i dont think york county would deny that health care revolution v carriere says markham residents have always had access to metro toronto services and now they have the best of both worlds for residents of pefferlaw and bradford the service represents a revolution in health care for people at the south end of the region they now have two choices now they can also do what weve been doing for years travel goes both ways and theres a lot less stress involved in travelling north he said if physicians want to continue referring patients to sunnybrook and st mikes that will continue but what this boils down to is theres a regional program in the province of ontario and you enter it and it determines where you access service i would hopea physician would do the responsible thing and let their patient go wherea space is available when you havea heart problem time is of the essence patients may also need to be con vinced about where they receive care says richmond hill cardiologist dr eric gangbar most patients in the southwest tend to gravitate to the toronto areait makes much more sense for them to go to a regional centre at our hospitalor sunnybrook rather than to york county said gangbar j if you drive north from finch or shcppard you naturally flow into richmond hill i despite the criticism over the process no one can deny the benefit such a designation will bring the com munity but questions remain what will the budget be and will it be enough l when york central took on tlie regional dialysis program it created an influx of patients with other disease implications requiring care in areas such as medicine and surgery it also created a s15million deficit the hospi tal was still looking for relief from in late december 905757k 18 crown steel drive warden lh avenue mob s3 0 electronic insurance filing