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President William B. Chabb and Medical Director Tiina Kaigas of Health First Inc. demonstrate an ear examination in the pediatric room of The Doctor‘s Office Waikâ€"in Medical Centre on University Ave. W. Bev Con%uest Chronicle Staff Walkâ€"in medical centres like The Doctor‘s Office at University Plaza are "inevitably the way of the future," according to Dr. Tiina Kaigas, medical director for Health First Inc. Company president William B. Chabb agreed and said he "would like to think we‘re on the leading edge." The Waterloo location of the Doctor‘s Office, Walkâ€"in Medical Care Centre is the ninth location in Ontario and the company ‘"is committed to 25 (locations) by next year." The oldest location is in its second year of operation. "The objective is exemplative patient care through stateâ€"ofâ€"theâ€"art facilities with practitioners dedicated to providing it," Chabb stated. Two years were spent researching patients‘ needs, likes and dislikes â€" right down to color tones â€" before "hammer was put to nail," he continued. "The centre is dedicated to the patient." Staff morale in this city is low. The evidence is clear â€" an internal report from a task force of city employees was submitted to council Monday night. The report, which analyzed present overtime systems and made recommendations clearly states, "the level of morale among employees appears to be adversely affected due to the high levels of overtime required. The overtime situation is a result of our employees‘ commitment to providing a superior level of service as exemplified in our Corporate Culture". The committee‘s analysis also discovered: ()That the number of hours worked for all employees has increased from 3000 hours in 1985 to 4,360 hours in 1987. C©That the number of hours being carried forward from one year to the next has increased from 1407 hours in 1985 to 2669 hours in 1987. "This would indicate that it is becoming increasingly difficult for staff to take the time off for overtime accumulated during the year and has resulted in more overtime The Doctor‘s Office providing health care ‘on the leading edge‘ The result is a large bright waiting room complete _ Year. _ _ . . with children‘s play area and a list of patients‘ Medalâ€"winner Mickey Johnson, a roller skating coach, felt "terribly rights on the wall. A medical secretary and honored". Anna Marie Rempel, a member of "The Skating Rempels" registered nurse provide support for the doctor. roller skating family, said she was happy to see ‘"our dgl.ight.ful coach, "What we‘ve done is put practitioners back to what _ who has carr ied us to this stage now receiving recognition." they should be doing â€" practising medicine," Kaigas noted, rather than worrying about admiâ€" o h t nistration. The patients‘ medical history or probâ€" pen ouse a lems are recorded in private cubicles, she said, a courtesy most offices disregard. Beechwo°d #»Manor The nurse‘s station is centra} to six examination Beechwood Manor Retirement Home will hold an open house rooms â€" one decorated especially for children â€" Wednesday Mar. 2 from 25 p.m. each with its own sink and equipment. The staff The residence was opened Dec. 3, 1984 by a group of local room provides a microwave oven, a fridge and 2 â€" pusinessmen. coffeeâ€"maker for staff as the company policy doesn‘t Private and semiâ€"private accommodations are available with more allow them to leave the centre during a shift. The lounge space being added in the near future. bathroom, equipped for the handlcapp(_ed‘ has an The outside landscaping which will be completed in the early spring emergency call button and a lock which can be w;j] include a putting green, an outdoor shuffleboard, pathways and (Continued on page 4) approximately 500 trees, shrubs and plants. written off in 1986 (735 hours) compared to 1985 (498 hours)," notes the report. The figures for 1987 writeâ€" offs will not be complete until April 1988. o _ Until council éha;lged the syst-em Monday night, all overtime was paid through time off at a rate of time and one half for overtime hours worked. o It‘s easy to see the vicious circle in this. Understaffed departments lean more heavily on existing employees to maintain the high standards of Waterloo departâ€" ments. Employees are granted time and one half off in lieu of pay, but are unable to collect because they are needed in understaffed departments. Council Monday adopted a new overtime policy, including some of the recommendations of the commitâ€" tee. Unfortunately, the new policy is confusing, at least to this reporter. It does include a combination time off and pay system, and a call for finding methods of reducing overtime. It also includes paying in real money any accumulated hours, provided the 1987 accumulation is greater than two weeks and less than 50 hours per Bev Conquest photo Celebration 88 recognizes our worthy champs lan Kirkby Chronicle Staff About 30 of the hundreds of Waterloo‘s volunteer "champs"‘ were recognized Monday with medals or certificates at a ceremony in the city council chambers. > â€" L ues ho n V’I"he recipients were among thousands being recognized coast to coast through the "Célebration 88" program sponsored by the federal government in conjunction with the winter Olympics. â€" Six local citizens involved in sports, who had been nominated by their peers, were presented with medals by federal member of parliament Walter McLean. McLean said that "not a few (Canadian Olympic athletes) have roots in Waterloo Region". He told the medal and certificate winners, "this is your moment". Medal recipients were: CDon McCrae, head coach of men‘s basketball at the university of Waterloo. McCrae, a member of Canada‘s 1960 Olympics basketball team has coached teams at all levels, from high school to national champions. _â€"DJulien Cormier, a teacher at St. Agnes School who has coached and officiated ringette and soccer and coached about 100 school teams in a variety of sports. e e CMickey Johnson, coach of the Phoenix (Roller) Skating Club, who has produced "man provincial, national and world skaters." Johnson suffered a serious stroke prior to the 1987 world competitions in New Zealand, yet fulfilled her coaching duties, said McLean. _â€"COFred huttinger. owner of Midas Muffler, and, said‘ McLean, "a major sponsor of the Waterloo Minor Hockey ‘Gold Puck‘ Tournament for 15 years". â€" i e _ i _ o _â€"CDave Wettlaufer, an golfing athlete who ranks in the top five in the province, and top 15 in Capada._ o . t]i,nsxal(ueneman,r the fourth ranked 400â€"metre female hurdler in the Canadian senior devision. "Lisa has taken the 1987â€"88 academic year off to train for the summer olympics"‘. oo _ Certificates were awarded by Waterloo Mayor Marjorie Carroll to 25 citizens who have "contributed to the quality of life" of the community. s o Recipients were: Civitan Club, Martin Deutschlander, Margaret Dickson, Carolyn Fedy, Waterloo Firefighters, Jack Gough, John Heinbuck Jr., Ken Hergott, Vic Kit, Kiwanis Club of the Twin Cities, Jan Kruetzer, Marie LeLievre, Keith Maude, Jack Middlemass, Gord Murray, Twinâ€"City Optimist Club, Audrey Reitzel, Royal Canadian Legion, Gerry Sharlach, Hossein Sherifali, Adee Snider, Kaarina Tulisalo, Dave Walker, Joanne Waugh and Ron Wettlaufer. m{"ic"K-iE, a volunteer for Waterloo Minor hockey said, "I wish we could recognize every (volunteer) out there. We should do this twice a PNZIIGAIIUY EMCIV W RIMIMMAT y MRNNEOOW OO NPWE O MOCOH OOE O PCR OTC C Marie LeLievre, a volunteer for the last eight years with the Waterloo Region Arts Council told the Chronicle "I think it‘s very nice to be appreciated. I was _very_surprised to hear of the award." Medalâ€"winner Mickey Johnson, a roller skating coach, felt "terribly honored". Anna Marie Rempel, a member of "The Skating Rempels" roller skating family, said she was happy to see "our delightful coach, who has carried us to this stage now receiving recognition.‘" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 24, 1988 â€" PAGE 3 What it does not do, is call for a realistic study by outside consultants to find out which departments are understaffed and to find ways to correct that, such as hiring more people where needed. People at the Chronicle have been hearing from staff for some time now that they are overworked and that morale is low. No, we don‘t have any ‘"deep throats" inside city hall leaking information such as this. Some of us live in this city, and have friends who work for the city. Others are told things casually by employees. The fire service study confirmed that our fire department is understaffed. The city‘s campaign to upset the collective bargaining process for Firefighters severely damaged morale. And now other of the city‘s own employees have confirmed this in a report. _ o â€" â€" Still to be answered, as far as this reporter is concerned, is what actions of substance will be taken to improve morale and ensure that staff don‘t become sacrificial lambs on the altar of the city‘s wellâ€"deserved reputation of efficiency. with lan Kirkby