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page 6 the stouffville sun tuesday jan 28 2003 a weekly newspaper serving whitchurchstouffville a metroland community newspaper 34 civic avenue box 154 stouffville ontario l4a 7z5 905 6402612 fax 6408778 lan proudfoot regional publisher steve kane advertising manager jlm mason managing editor susan berry cherryl steer sales reps pam nichols production manager subscriptions canada 32year indudes gst elsewhere 8025 year indudes gst reg no 05852 jgcm email editorsfouffvillesuncom 1999 blue ribbon editorial poucy opinions expressed by columnists contributors and letter writers ore not necessarily ihose of the stooffvife sua letters not to exceed 400 words must include name and phone number phone number will not be published requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there is a compelling reason to do so errors will be corrected if brought to the editors attention we reserve the right to edit or refuse publication of any material submitted advertising poucy publisher is not liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement the publisher is not liable for other errors or omissions in any subsequent issue or the refund or any monies paid for the advertisement all daims of error must be mode by friday prior to the next weeks publication no claim will be allowed for more than one insertion 1 editorial our happy hospital january has been an excellent month for markham stouffville hospital and the area residents who use its services first a survey of patients gave the ninth line hospital some of the best marks in the province wednesday the province formally approved a 120 million expansion of the hospital the publicprivate partnership plan will see among other improvements an expanded emergency department a sixbed cardiac care unit and a new diagnostic imaging facility the expansion will create a fullservice health care campus that includes construction of a wellness centre for preventative and alternative health programs a larger ambulatory care unit and a new surgical centre all of which will be linked to the original hospital building having private money invested means the new centre will be built sooner the new services will become even more vital as the existing population ages and more older adults move into new nursing homes and developments like the ballantrae golf and country club in whitchurchstouffville anyone who has visited markham stouffville knows expansion is needed hallways are cluttered with equipment the emergency ward seems perpetually crowded yet the hospital managed topranking marks in this months provincial report card we are the only hospital in ontario with topranking marks in the last two report cards said msh president and ceo dr jim maclean markham stouffville hospital has proven its ability to adapt to new ways of doing things that the project has received final approval not only serves the community but demonstrates the governments commitment to innovation and accountability the hospital which opened 13 years ago was planned for a population of 77000 but there are now 230000 residents in the area it was built to handle 1800 births a year in 2001 staff delivered 2722 babies the diagnostic imaging department x- rays ultrasounds ct scans was designed to provide 30700 exams a year but 108233 were performed in 2001 its time our hospital experienced the growth spurt the communities it serves already has and with thousands of new residents coming to stouffville in the next 15 years the need will only increase o lashback fjsl the old rink precision skaters from the stouffville figure skating club compete at the old stouffville arena on park drive where the skateboard park now stands in 1983 1snt nylon great when i was little the snow always stuck id my woolen snowswt in little balls and i had to pull them off b letters to the editor stouffville sun file photo america should have weapons inspections to the editor i believe the time has come for 1 nonamerican citizens of the world to request a change of regime in the united states of america 2 for the americans to submit to thorough united nations sponsored weapons inspections including the pentagon and white house 3 that the american government give an account of how many trillions of dollars have been spent on the military also what has been given to other nations of the world in food aid health aid etc in the past 10 years we in canada should request that our government make similar comparisons available to us my point is that i wish our national leaders would get their priorities in order and use our tax dollars for the universal good of mankind and not for our possible annihilation john c reesor stouffville tax dollars shouldnt pay for abortions to the editor- once again i participated in the sanctity of life sunday on jan 19 2003 to hear once again fact after fact about what a fetus actually is from the momenfof conception makes it difficult to understand how and why we are still murdering the unborn society now says the fetus is being used for stem cell research then why not use adult stem cells the adults can also have their own stem cells frozen for future use why then are we promoting abortion especially when many of our young people are sexually active and using abortion as a means of birth control i hope they are being told of the options that they have that babies can be given for adoption rather than aborted society has been screaming for womens-so- calledrights for years never taking into consideration the longterm results women have never been deprived of their rights women have been given the privilege of carrying the unborn child who knows what child has been deprived of life a future prime minister a doctor who may discover a cure for some mysterious disease a teacher who in turn will teach others my tax dollars are being used for abortions governments do not have the right to use those dollars for something that i so strongly object to doris robertson stouffville join the discussion at stouffvillesuncom your opinion is important to us in both letters to the editor and discussion groups on our web site stouffvillesuncom join an online discussion on issues that affect your town come back often for others feedback and more discussion on a variety of topics at stouffvillesuncom click on the stouffville link and read current and archived stouffville news hit opinion to read your favourite local columnists jim mason and jim thomas and please feel free to email editorstouffvillesuncom with your thoughts bpwbwbpphwipwhkwhmswbbbwflwwbhgwffylwmm