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-s- 3zrf2 saturday sept 2 2000 f f 5 p sjajrjfli f v l- jvjr y a map there are some significant human resources challenges 1ni not so sure we can all achieve the targets jim maclean president markham stouffville hopsital yvtv were not asking the province to fund an inefficient operation im confident the government wijl address our needs because weve got our house in order t i dan carriere president york county hospital 1 r by dawn liersch staff writer s the provinces 633 million for hospital beds geared to stave off another- winter of emergency room frenzy will be of little use if hospitals dont have the staff there has to be some caution on all of this stuff said dr jim maclean president of markham stouffville- hospital of health minister elizabeth winners announcement wednesday of emergency room funding- for ontario hospitals there are some significant human resources challenges im notso sure we can all achieve the targets the announcement includes funding for 10 transitional acute care beds for markham stouffville hospital which will fill it to capac ity until it can redevelop 753 new beds in gta j york central hospital in richmond hill will receive funding for 10 transitional beds and 10 flex beds to be used for four months during peak periods of er demand such as flu season york county hospital in newmarket will receive funding for 20 transitional beds and six flex beds j overall the province will spend 465 million for 753 new hospital beds in the greatertororito area it willalso kick in 68 jrnillion for 450 flex beds to cover peak demands f although the provinces emer- gency room strategy also includes plans to assist hospitals in recruit- ing and retaining jnew- staff maclean says plans take time to implement and brenda ingledew emer- gency medicine director at york central hospital worries it will be difficult to find nurses to operate flex beds on a temporary basis what york region ho ge york county hospital in newmarket will receive funding for20 transitional beds and six flex beds york central hospital in richmond hill will receive funding for 10 transitional beds and 10 flex beds to be used for four months during peak periods of er demand such as flu season markham stouffville hospital will receive funding for 10 transitional acute care beds which will fill it to capacity until it can redevelop- nurses are at a premium right now itwill befdifficultjo find someone to work four months a year she said york hospitals have tried to get a jump start on recruiting staff by partnering with senecacollege to train nurses for critical careser- vices nurses coming out of the fall program should be available for work in york hospitals around christmas york hospitals played a signifi cant role in showing the ministry the need for more beds maclean said there are times when we notice significant pressures although markham stouffville hospital did not have to turn ambulances away as much as other hospitals last winter when- flu outbreaks created emergency room overload maclean said staff had to handle additional patients corning from busy toronto hospi tals t v however york- central hospital went on redirect and critical care bypass last wintermbre than any other year said melina cormier the hospitals public affairs direc tor ironically on the day of the announcement the hospital was- on consideration for redirect cormier said the new beds combined with provincial plan to offer free flu vaccines to all citizens this year should help ease pres sure on the hospitals emergency department its not a magic bullet its riot a solution overnight rbut it should help she said the crunch in emergency departments is usually caused by lack of beds but ingledew isconcerned hos pitals are still illequipped for the anticipated crunch she recalls a nightmare winter jast year when york central- was frequently filled to capacity creating er bacicups- she blames the increased vol umes on growth and the fact that overloaded toronto hospitals i struggling- fill gaps iri service caused- by emergency roomcloj- sures j were sending their patieritsnqrtli york centrals emergency room was originally built to handle 25000 to 301000 cases annually but handled rriofe than 60000 last year she said s- this yearits expected to be even higher she said adding the hospital could probably use an additional 20 beds to accommo- date growing community needs its really not enough but its a step ijn the right direction its s important that the ministry has eased our plight somewhat unique predicament york county hospital faces a unique predicament because it is not located near other large hospi tals it often has to open unbudget- ed overflow beds to avoid going on redirect said hospital president r dan carriere ywe didnt go on redirect as much as other hospitals we try not to do that we are forced to deal with it another way he said carriere said he is particularly pleased with the announcement because he had projected the hqs- pital would need exactly 20 new beds this year he suggested york countys sta- tus as the eighth most efficient hospital in a peer group of more than 100 ontario hospitals may have prompted the province to address its needs l v were not asking the province to fund an inefficient operation he said im confident the govern ment will address our needs because weve got our house in order although he doesnt yet know how much money the hospital will receive to operate the beds he stressed the funding should help to reduce the hospitals 12-mil- lion deficit s- i ifc e s news digest i r- 1 t 1 whats happening binder twine festival v saturday sept 9 10 anftb 5pmr islington avenue kleinburg reigning binder twine festival queen gail schultz is all set to crown one of the lucky contestents in the annual old-feshv- ioiied festival which promises contests gamesand entertainment for the family man charged inassault a 73yearold thornhill man is charged after an 11 yearold jgirl wassexually assaulted in a thornhill park wednesday a heavyset man sat between the girl and her friend alsoll as they rested on a park bench at about 340 pm he offered them candythen j began to touchoneofthe girls police said apassefby noticed what was happening ahdrdered the girls- away the rnanthenleft the south entraricef iljl f the girls gave a 1 detailed description of the suspect and an arrest was made late thursday arrests in missing cash sc four former employees of markhams computer fcity ae charged after a sevenmonth scam involving thetheft of more than 12000 police said the rhissingcash came to light after an internal audit revealed inconsistencies v including thousands of dollars worth of missing merchandise which had supposedly- been returned the suspects allegedly entered returns into the comput er system then took the money and split it between them said det frank taylor auditors could not locate the returned items both the audit and the investiga- tion continue v three markham men 19 20- and 21 k and a 19yearold scarborough man are charged with theft over 5000 and pps- session of stolen property f i i t i 1 3 r x 4cfie yfcl j