WE[rm'Y PM RE iS$, WEDNES±>AY, NvM~R89 198,PAGE 25 Gold conoernedover hath, care crisis By Trudie Zavadovies The «crisis" in health care is a burning issue for Durham's interim medical officer of health, Dr. Steven Gold cf Whitby. He addressed regional council members lest week and said that diseases, such as infrequent eut- breaks cf salmonella or meningo- coccal, were not the only fires te be p ut out in Durham Region. "There is, hewever, another fire fleming in this region, as it is in many cf the regions acrcss the prýovince " said Gold. "That is the crisis in iealth care." The Whitby resident, who practises in Oshawa, had only te relate bis own experiences to illustratai the gowing magnitude the problem of hospital bed shor- tages is posing. "I have worked as a family physician in this community for the pà st 10 years. It is becoming increasingly frequent that I, like many cther physicians, arrive at the dcor cf the Oshawa General Hospital to find a sign posted, 'Acute Care Bed Shortage - Please Discharge Patints."' He said that although cou ncil- Týrafalgar's annuel bazaar was on Saturday. The money raised will be donated to such charities as the Denise House, Amnesty International, United Way, Christopher Robin Home, The World Wildlife Fund, Canadian National Institute cf the Blind, Children's Aid Society and our four foster children. "Trick or treat!" That's the word for the big and littie sisters of Trafalgar Castie. The big sisters of grade 12 and 13 escorted their littie grade 7, 8 and 9 sisters around the neighborhood for Halloween. They had great fun collecting candy, while the grade 10 and il students attendedstudy hall. Halloween was a school day event as well. Tuesday, Oct. 31 was "dress down day," or should I say "dress MU day." Students showed up in some daring duds! There were bags cf scrumptious candy for the winning costume in each cf the four houses, and a grand prize for the best costume overaîl. It was somewhat rowdy being ont cf uniformn, but meeL cf the teachers survived. Well, another month is upon us, and I hope we can tackle it. There's already anticipation for Christmas holidays, even though Halloween is just barely ever. Mr. Palmer's grade il history class venturèd te downtown* Toronto to visit a Buddhist temple. The class partoek in a 108-step dance. However, they learned only two steps of it. They found the experience different and unique, and learned a lot about the religion. Dances have ceased for the time being. It seemed like the girls were off to one every weekend, even two sometimes. Our first dance was the Halloween dance. It proved successful in music and décoration despite the shertage of boys. However, the dance became epen, and tickets were sold enabling the girls te bring some guys for their friends. lors may be affected periodically, constituents weire affcted daily by the problem. "Some cf yeu may net- be aware that the provincial health care- budget new consumes over one-third cf the total provincial budget. More frightening, howe- ver, is that the population cf persons over 85 years, cf age is climbing at a rate cf 10 per cent per year. That is cempounded annually,"» said Gold. «These are potentially heavy consumers cf the health, care dollar and they must be treated with compassion. Consequently, unless the, status que- cf health PATRICK'S GENERAL SERVICES Quallty Renovatiofls/Improvem5fts.I REC ROOMS, BATHROOMS ROOFS, DECKS & FENCES INTERLOÇKING STONE WALKWAYS & PATIOS 430-1422, 430-1167 I care is. changed in our society> heelth. care requirements will gradualIly consume largerercen- tages of the provincial udget. 'Thefunds which yeu seek for educat'on roads, se es and transpôrtation are alrekudy being cpnsumed by the veracious appe- tite cf a health care system eut cf control." He seid that the new man- dates for the regional depart- ments of public heelth across Ontario included partial. solu- tions to the health care crisis. The mandates include preven- tative medicine programs for substance abuse including smek- AL'S DRYWALL e Ornamental design >-# ceilings 10 a~o Plaster work e Painting &cdecoratiflg e General contractiflg S668-8958 666-1657 Scotty AI ing, elcohol end drugs, as weil as programs related te ynutrition, mental hiealth and sexually transmitted diseases. The man- date aIse includes promoting healthy lifestylès and a focus on home care. Although bis position is tem- perary, he* said, "I intend te address the position as fully and as responsily as possible in keeping with the xnendated res- ponsibi ities of the medical offi- cer of health. 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