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Injured rollerblader still looking for hitâ€"andâ€"run driver Bob Vrbanac Chronicle Staff Veteran tollerblader Dan Hess knows the dangers that come in sharing the road with distracted drivers racing around the streets of Waterloo. Hess tries to avoid the pratfalls of bad surfaces, steep inclines and heavy traffic as he enjoys some nightly exercise on his roadâ€" worn skates. "I stay really close to the side of the road," he said. "I know how really dangerous rollerblading can be. It‘s more dangerous than on a bike because on a bike you can stop really quickly". But despite all the precautions, he still finds himself recovering from an accident suffered a month ago that has left him with a badly injured left arm, and the police on the lookout for a hitâ€"andâ€" run driver. Hess has been on his blades for most of his life. A longtime minorâ€"hockey player, he graduated to rollerblades four years ago. In that time he‘s never suffered a serious accident or serious injury while out "blading." But that changed during a dinnerâ€"time skate on Benjamin Road in late August. He was skating at a fairly good pace when he heard a car approaching from behind. The car honked, and he staned 10 coast on the edge of the road. "I said to myself, That‘s nice this guy let me know that he was coming before actually being right on top of me,"" said Hess. "Normally when you‘re biking, or whatever, they tend to hit the horn and it scares the hell out of you." Gliding down the road, Hess bent down and rested his hands on his knees. Right up against the shoulder, he noticed that there was no oncoming traffic, and thought the driver had plenty of room to get by. "He had all the room in the world to get around me," he said. "It was a flat stretch of road, and it was a straight stretch of road, so l didn‘t think 1 had to worry about it whatsoever." _ Hess was just past Westmount on Benjamin Road when he was knocked headâ€"overâ€"heels by a passing pickup truck. _ _ "I was hit in the back of the s-houlde~r§, and the back of the head, and sent straight to the ground." â€" Because Hess was in a crouch position he was able to roll with the blow. The crouch may have saved his life, but he was still seriâ€" ously injured. "When I came to a stop, my arm was dangling over my body, and I was on my side," he said. "Without moving it, 1 could see my arm and knew that it was broken because the elbow was stickâ€" ing way out." A passing motorist saw Hess injured at the side of the road as a green pickup truck continued on. The driver stopped and offered him assistance, as pieces of the pickup truck‘s shattered passenâ€" gerâ€"side mirror laid strewn around the accident site. _ "The truck took off and kept on going," said Hess. "It was dri ving down the road as if nothing happened. "I thought it was preity cowardly the way I got hit. Breaking his mirror, he had to know that he hit somebody. To not come back and see if I was all right, or to see if 1 had help, was pretty cowâ€" ardly of the person." Police are still looking for the green pickup truck with a broken passengerâ€"side mirror. If you have any information call Waterloo Regional Crime Stoppers at 1â€"800â€"222â€"8477(TIPS) or the Chronâ€" icle at 886â€"2830, ext. 229. i I / ® Leath Make the right move to Genuine Laâ€"Zâ€"Bo .ecather! _ You could d_l'lW E. away a winner‘ a» L Te Grand Prize e L " § A new 1999 h\rd R L Bh Windstar LX with 4 ié;‘ P . tagh â€" doors and leather The new "Odyssey" reclining sofa The "Dreamtime" chaise reclining sofa en ts interior plus a as shown in Safari leather as shown in Cascade leather Genuineâ€"Laâ€"Zâ€"Boy* Smrtine fom 1999" Starting from 2199" . hn leather reclining sofa PAgk 3 Starting fmmr !299” Health cuts making local residents sick, says hospital employee A local hospital worker says the provincial government‘s drive to reduce acuteâ€"care hosâ€" pital beds and have moare peoâ€" ple treated at home is actually making Waterloo Region resiâ€" dents sick. Mark Smith, an employee at the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Health Centre and a member of Local 220 of the Service Employees‘ International Union, said Monâ€" day although the provincial government believes releasing patients early from hospital and having them treated at home is beneficial, he believes otherwise. Smith, the chairman of the SEIU at Grand River Hospital, and Dorothy Vandrick, the chairwoman of the SEIU at St. Mary‘s General Hospital, appeared before Waterloo council Monday night to ask it to endorse Local 220s current ‘Save Our Beds‘ campaign. Council unanimously passed a motion supporting the general direction of the campaign as well as emphasizing the curâ€" rent per capita hospital underâ€" funding for Waterloo Region residents. "One of the statistics that isn‘t being kept that probably needs to be kept is the patient Tim Gardner Chronicle Staff returns," Smith said in an interview before the council meeting, when asked why the loss of acuteâ€"care beds in regional hospitals is so imporâ€" tant. "As people are sent out, you see them come back two or three days later, and they‘re in for five days to a week," Smith said. "So maybe it would be better instead of kicking them out after three days, to keep themn in for five days initially and cut down on the total length of stay." As well, Smith said the govâ€" etnment‘s policy to reduce acuteâ€"care beds in hospitals Waterloo wins "As people are sent out, you see them come back two or three days later." â€" Smith Waterloo motorists once again proved they are the most safety conscious in the Region by beatâ€" ing out the cities of Kitchener and Cambridge in the provincial Seat Belt Challenge held last Satâ€" urday. Volunteers positioned a local intersections conducted an informal survey of seat belt use in Grand Prize A new 1999 Forg. Windstar LX with 4 doors and leather interior plus a Genuineâ€"Laâ€"Zâ€"Boy* leather rechining sof: provincewide is actually danâ€" gerous. Since 1995â€"96, Waterâ€" loo Region has lost a total of 100 acuteâ€"care hospital beds at Grand River Hospital, St. Mary‘s General Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Smith said, and is going to lose another 151 by 2003 thanks to the provincial Health Services Restructuring Commussion‘s final report, released last August. "The other issue that we‘re running into is because there are not enough acuteâ€"care beds, you have people waiting in the emergency department for 48 to 72 hours for a bed," Smith said. "And you have patients that are in hospital for infections being placed on the floor with expectant and new mothers, because that‘s the only place you can find a bed for them." Smith also said other patients suffering from such VICTORIA STAR MOTORS 1450 Victona St. N., Kitchener 1998 Câ€"CLASS members aol.com:VicStarMB [Nâ€"STOCK NOW trom 579â€"4460 +37,750 the community. The purpose of the event was to rasie awaremenss of the importance of seat belt use. In the three local communities, 94.1 per cent of drivers in Waterloo were buckled up, 92.5 per cent of drivers in Cambridge were buckled up, and 86 per cent of drivers in Kitchâ€" ener were buckled up DEPENDABLE SERVICE SINCE 1959 46 King St. N., Waterloo 886â€"2040 CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY TUESDAY â€" THURSDAY 9â€"5.30 FRIDAY 9â€"9, SATURDAY 9â€"5.00 FREE PARKING AT FRONT & REAR OF STORE OAigly s things as infections sometimes also had to be temporarily placed in hospitals‘ surgical wards. along with people recoverimg from operations, simply because there are not enough acuteâ€"care beds in the hospitals to handle the demand. That is particularly disturbing now that so many drugâ€"resistant viruses are turnâ€" ing up at hospitals, he said. At Monday night‘s council meeting, Smith presented councit members with a copy of Local 220 petition calling for the provincial government to reinstate all acuteâ€"care beds and funding slated to be removed from Waterloo Region due to the Health Serâ€" vices Restructuring Commisâ€" sion‘s report. As of Monday night, approximately 1,500 people had already signed the petition, Smith said. Local 220 began its ‘Save Our Beds‘ camâ€" paign this past Labour Day. again Bob Â¥rbanac photo