PAGE 10, WMHTBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1990 Health council seeks input on f utu-re rote. Catherine Hilge, chairmnan of the Dunhazn Region District Health Council, recently announ- ced that council will b. seeking written feedback from ail health and social services and organiza- tions acrosa Durham Region on 'a proposed future roi.' for the. Durham Région District Health Council. Over the last year district health councils, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, developed a discussion paper, 'Future Directions for District Health Councils:,Renewing Our Partinership in PIanning.' The. document, which was endorsed by Health Minister Elinor Caplin in October, sUg geste some enhancement of te roI. of district health councils, Currently, councils are manda-. ted te provide advice te the Minister of Health on local health needs. Specifically, their role is: - te, identily heaith needs and consider alternative ways of meeting those needs, that are consistent -with provincial guide- limes; » te plan a compréhensive health car. program and establ- ish short-tor riorities that are consistent withlnte goals; - to, coordinate a il heaith acti- vities and ensure a balanced, effective and economical service a nwilpemu a nt ed January 1, 1990. Ontario residents are responsible for paying their premiums until the end of December 1989, for the period through Mardi 31, 1990. Willmy ealh cre ovage ontnue Yes. If you were covered you will continue to be covered under your present OHIP number. Payment of the final preniium wiil ensure continuous coverage to March 31,1990. Mfter April 1, 1990, coverage will automatically remain valid for ail eligible residents of Ontario. Ontario's health care system covers aU residents of the province including students, senior citizens, retired people, people on social assistance, people who are employed, unemployed or self-employed. Contact your local OHIP office. Wil hecanea. fet p. . ' oveag undr oman ani*s s uch 'as aî a I[l a, Wh .i the Onari oerm In the past, rnany companies paid ail or a percentage of OHIP for their employees. Other companies paid notbing. Many Ontarians paid OHIP premiums on their own. Unfortunately, many of the people' who had to pay their own premiums were those who could least afford them. The new Employer Health Tax and the elimination of OHIP premiums will make the system fair for everyone. that is satisfactery te the com- munity; - te work tewards cooperation in the socal deveiopment activi- ties for the district. Future Directions desribes four functions which are con- sidered te b. enliancements te the. eisting roi. of district health counils. Theby involve the pro- vision of advice in four armas: - allocation of funds; - district health manpower 'reuirements; - area-wide plan- - itegratinq heaith and socal servces planning. flaving reviewied the provincial paper, and recognizing the.many implications of an enhianced roi., counci-t felt there should b. com- munity consultation around these issues. Ini order te facilitate the pro- cesa,. council developed a com- Munt discussion paper which i4entifi'es the. direction of its future roi.. As a rit stage of consultation, the district health council is requesting the. submission of wnitten biefs which address the following issues: . what components of the. future roi. of the Durham Region DHC are supported; - what components of the. future rôle of the Durham Région DHC are unclear or are not suppo$ted and why; Yes. Last year nearly fourteen billion dollars, one tliird of the entire provincial budget, went towards providing health care for Ontario residents. The elimination of premniumns in no way affects the amount of money the government has conxnitted to health care. It simply changes one of the sources of the money. In the past OHIP premniums only paid for a very smail part of the Ontario health care sys- temn. Most of the rnoney for health care came fromn general revenues collected through the tax systemn. What do 1 do when 1 go to the u do iar ctrrQ ra orth hsal Do what you usually do. Use your OHIP number. It's still the samne. Present your numnber to show that you are eligible for health care ser-vices. Did tawe~Ua mis wua Vtwri aaon e o yu auetias If you have further questions here are two ways we can help you: 1) Cail your local OHIP office. You'Ul find the niýmber ini the blue pages of your local telephone directory or 2) Cail the Ontario Ministry of Health toll-free numnber: 1L-800-268-1154. TDD 1-800-387-5559. Ministry of Heal1th SOntario Ministère de la Santé ____________ ~.fi'4 ~ A '.r~'.'~'. ~ ~i ç~ç ~ <,.',,'~. j - what alternatives are there for components of the enhanced, roie that'ae not suDDorted; - sugges tions for, enhancing communication between the DROI and community;. -any other sugetinsfor im~omlocal hea"thplaing. The discusion paper isbei circulated toail Durham hat institutiions, co)mmunity-based services, -health profiession*al- groups and municil3alties. It la also availafile to the pub- lic upon r es. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 28. New, TTY nu mber The. ne* telephone number at Durham Regionial Police head- c'atr or. thé TTY service for The Oshawa Deaf Centre and poiebegan the service about twyearst ago te handie orner- gsncy tanks. A recent change in th~e communication system has reule inion. lin. for 1'1?Y caler for ail emergencies. The Bell Relay service is aware of the new number. ITY in a teletype machine with a coupler that allows a telephone handset te, be connec- ted. The machine ls used like a typewriter and the message is transinitted through the tel.- phone limes to a siniflar machine at the other end. The. hafim«paired indivi- dual ca e d the message at the, other en ipaed on a saeen or printedon papr. MariaJuil for KON ANAOUR ~F9éBZLOUS WEDZDING QUALI79'SILK( CUSTOM MADEDESIGN9S SNTE0 SPEOFICALLY FOR YOUR TASTES AND DESIRES HAND BEADES BRDAI. GOWNS BRIAI.ACCESSORIES CUSTOM TAILORINO TO AIL GOWNS MOTHER 0F BMIE AND GROOM FASHiON AFFORDA3LE PRICES EXCLUS! VELY HNDJRHM REGR NAT: Diainne's Bridai Couture 413 D!JNDAS ST. E, WWITY FOR YOIiR EXCLUSV APPOINIMENT CALL 430-8985 SEE MARIA JUNG'S DESIGNS IN'7ODAY'S BRIDE"ý MAGAZINE As ofJanuary 1,190 YOD no longer pay OHIP preminms And you are stili coverod ! ý 1 - -- -t i --- 'L - -j,ýà % x, ., .; - .. ý - ý - - - - - - - - - - , - - , - - -