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HomeMy WebLinkAboutX2023-035-001FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE FOR 35,000 PEOPLE AJAX and PICKERING GENERAL HOSPITAL a . . AN URGENT, DESPERATE NEED • As the only hospital between Oshawa and Metropolitan Toronto, Ajax and Pickering General Hospital is the first line of defence for 35,000 men, women and children living in our area. Each year it serves more than twice as many patients from Pickering Township as all other hospitals combined, including those of Metropolitan Toronto. • Minutes count when emergencies arise ... when a farm or factory worker is seriously injured ... when a baby fights for k,\ birth ... when a loved one is taken dangerously ill. Strategically located, Ajax and Pickering General Hospital can be reached quickly from all sections of South Ontario County. Very often it means the difference between life and death. • The Hospital's limited, and outdated, facilities are cracking under the pressure of explosive demands for service. Average daily occupancy of beds is 106 per cent of rated capacity. As many as 65 beds are set up in space designed for 45. Except in cases of emergency, patients must wait two months or more for admission. • Admittedly, the Hospital does not now have the calibre of facilities and equipment required to satisfy all the hospital needs of our area. As a result, many patients who would prefer to remain close to home must go to other hospitals for treatment. • There is an urgent —indeed desperate — need for new, larger, more comprehensive facilities. The present hospital — a small, wooden -frame building — cannot be economically expand- ed or improved; nor would such expansion be approved by the Ontario Hospital Services Commission. • Construction of new facilities will enable Ajax and Pickering General Hospital to provide us with fuller, more effective service. The benefits to be reaped may well be measured in terms of your life ... your health ... your livelihood. Statistics show one of every seven residents of Ontario requires hospital care each year. J Patients get well quickly at Our Hospital. Average length of stay is only 6.4 days. One operating room serves the entire hos- pital. More than 6,000 operations performed. r� Our Hospital is noted for its warm personality. Chil- dren receive special treatment and care. Every effort is made to keep them happy while they are getting well. But children, too, often must wait many weeks for admittance because of the extreme bed shortage. A HOSPITAL WITH A PERSONALITY A HOSPITAL IS REALLY PEOPLE ... patients of all ages, faiths and creeds who come to it in time of need .. . and the doctors, nurses, technicians and other staff who are there to help them. Together, they can make a hospital a source of great security and pride to the area it serves, for nothing is more important than the easing of pain, the saving of life, the preser- vation of health and hope. Ajax and Pickering General Hospital is a case in point. It is a hospital with a warm personality ... close to the hearts of the thousands of patients it has served ... noted for its cheerful, friendly atmosphere and high standards of medical treatment and nursing care ... fondly regarded as a "home base" hospital by the families whose lives it helps protect. It is, in effect, one of us. It is Our Hospital... operated by, and for, the people of South Ontario County. 40,000 PATIENTS Opened in 1954, Our Hospital has compiled an amazing record of service: over 15,200 bed patients admitted, more than 21,300 out -patients and emer- gencies treated, 3,200 babies born, over 6,000 surgi- cal operations performed ... in total, nearly 40,000 patients served. Our Hospital helps keep us healthy ... able to work, play and enjoy life. But it has a distressing and complex problem to contend with: drastically over- crowded facilities, insufficient equipment and out- dated buildings. ONLY ONE OPERATING ROOM Its 45-bed capacity, one operating room, one re- covery room, one delivery room, one X-ray room and two small labs are glaringly inadequate to provide the amount of service we ask of it. The problem grows more acute each year, as modern medical science makes possible the diagnosis, treat- ment and cure of an increasing number of diseases and injuries. Here is the statistical story of Our Hospital's growth of service since 1954: Percentage 1954 1960 Increase Bed Patients. . . . . 1,097 2,529 130% Out -Patient Visits . . . 1,297 3,481 168% Births . . . . . . . 245 455 86% Surgical Operations. 238 1,142 379% X-ray Examinations . 1,370 3,247 136% Lab Tests (No. of units) . 3,038 28,353 833% I ale) vote V 1 PATIENTS OBSOLETE, BUILDINGS STATISTICS ALONE DO NOT TELL THE FULL STORY of the interminable pressures under which Our Hospital operates. Also to be considered is the inconvenience to patients and the difficulties imposed on doctors, nurses and other staff caused by the Hospital's obsolete, inferior, wartime -constructed buildings. Our first line of defence is in danger of crumbling! Patients —including children —must wait many weeks for beds ... almost all rooms contain more beds than they were designed to accommodate ... use of the Hospital's one operating room must be reserved far in advance of actual surgery ... lab and X-ray facilities are hard-pressed to keep pace with the crushing demand for diagnostic services and examinations ... an old shed serves as an emergency ambulance entrance ... the kitchen is too small to provide meals for the Hospital staff ... many sup- plies are stored in make -shift areas ... there are no proper admitting offices or waiting rooms in the Hospital. Furthermore, Our Hospital is beyond economical expansion or major improvement. It was not con- structed as a permanent building in the first place, and has no basement or solid foundation. Yet, despite these many handicaps, Our Hospital has served us well ... performing to the utmost of its limited capacity. Standards of treatment and care are second to none. Patients respond quickly to the calibre of personal attention provided. In fact, the average length of patient stay (6.4 days) is one of the lowest of any general hospital in the Province of Ontario. WE NEED A NEW HOSPITAL But we, of South Ontario County, are in immediate need of a full-fledged modern general hospital, to replace the existing "cottage -type" unit. The building of larger, more adequate facilities can be delayed no longer, if we are to have the health protection we desire for ourselves, our families, friends and neighbours. And that is why the plan to build a new hospital — Our New Hospital — is now taking shape. Every- body's financial support is needed to make it a reality. THE BUILDING COSTS SERVICE The sweeping ground level base of Our New Hospital will contain all the major supporting services, including surgery, X-ray, laboratory, physiotherapy and facilities for emergency and out -patients treatment. Also on the ground floor is the complete maternity wing, with labor and delivery suites, 21 beds for mothers and 24 bas- sinets for newborns. The central, three -storey tower houses 70 active treatment beds for adults and a special 14-bed pediatric department for children. Kitchen, cafe- teria, stores, laundry and other basic service areas are in the basement. Site of Our New Hospital is on property owned by, and adjacent to, the present hospital. Careful consideration was given to building elsewhere in Pickering Township but no other sites were avail- able which offered central steam heat service and all the necessary requirements of accessibility, sewage, water and electric service and the strategic location. Cost of installing a heating plant alone would be at least another $100,000. r ��r r r r �� r �� • �� • ��� View of front entrance, showing canopied arch leading into admitting offices. The Hospital is specifically designed for simple and economical expansion. More beds and faci►ities can be added as required to meet future demands for increased service. Capital cost of future expansion will be covered almost entirely by existing government grant structures. GREATER HEALTH PROTECTION THE SHORTAGE OF HOSPITAL FACILITIES to serve South Ontario County is more critical than many residents realize. Those who know best — hospital and health spokesmen, doctors and nurses — agree it is impera- tive we move right ahead with plans to build a new, larger, more comprehensive hospital. The planned new hospital means greater health pro- tection for all of us ... giving us the security of knowing that adequate beds and a full range of modern medical equipment and services are avail- able in time of need ... offering immediate treatment and care for all but the most complicated of illnesses ... reducing the need, inconvenience and expense of travelling many miles to hospitals in other areas. It is worth noting, too, that most other nearby public hospitals also are handicapped by insufficient beds. For example, it is estimated Toronto alone requires at least 2,000 more hospital beds just to serve its own resident population adequately. As a result, fewer and fewer beds are available to patients from outside areas, such as ours. Provincial health authorities are urging smaller communities and regional areas to build more of their own hospital facilities, especially for general treatment and care. Over 3,200 healthy (and noisy) babies delivered since 1954. �aE r}.. e. :.' .. OUR $495,000 BUILDING FUND VARIOUS LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT have already ack now (- edged the urgent need for more, and better, hospital facilities in our area. Thus the planned new Ajax and Pickering General Hospital "is eligible to receive certain, specified government grants. These antici- pated grants amount to $1,853,000. Estimated total cost of the building program is $2,348,000. The remaining $495,000 needed to make our hos- pital a reality is being sought in gifts and contribu- tions to OUR HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND. Everybody with a stake in our area is being asked to participate ... business and industry ... clubs and organizations ... merchants and suppliers ... doctors, nurses and other professional people ... and the 35,000 farm, town and village residents of our part of Ontario County. HOSPITAL INSURANCE DOES NOT PAY FOR BUILDING The Ontario Hospital Services Commission, which endorses Our Hospital building program, makes no provision for the capital cost of such building. Rather, the hospitalization insurance plan provides us with pre -paid coverage of hospital bills. The aim is to equate a hospital's annual income with annual expenditures — allowing it to operate financially on an even keel. X-ray examinations are increasingly important. This is Our Hospital's only piece of equipment. The $495,000 public appeal — Our Hospital Building Fund — is being conducted by interested citizens on a voluntary basis. Please be prepared to welcome the volunteer canvasser who calls upon you for your gift to the building fund, for he, too, is working to help provide you with better health protection. Decide now upon the amount of your contribution and please give when asked. Gifts can be pledged over three years, or whatever interim period suits your convenience. Everybody's generous support is required to make the appeal a success. y There is no proper emergency admitting area. An old shed serves as an ambulance entrance. Payments on gifts are deductible for income tax purposes. Please make all cheques payable to: OUR HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND Contributions should be handed to the volunteer who calls upon you, or mailed to: Honorary Treasurer Our Hospital Building Fund Post Office Box 209 Pickering, Ontario All gifts are officially acknowledged by the Honorary Treasurer. Babies don't always arrive on schedule, but Our Hospital is on the alert, day and night. The present nursery is small, crowded. The new Hospital will provide space for 25 bassinets. Thousands of form and factory accident victims are attended each year. Patients often must line up for treatment. More space and equipment are needed urgently. 1i STRENGTHEN OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE SPECIAL GIFT OPPORTUNITIES Donors to Our Hospital Building Fund often request that their gifts be used for specific purposes ... to commemorate a family name ... honor a friend or relative ... identify a company or group with the new hospital. Many special gift opportunities of this kind are available. Gifts so specified will be appro- priately recorded in Our New Hospital, for all to see. Following is a partial list of special gift opportunities, and their estimated costs. Fund volunteers will be pleased to discuss these, and many others, with you and your friends. X-ray Dept., complete ..................... $62,300 Emergency Dept., complete ................. 58,000 Laboratory Dept., complete ................. 45,600 Nursery, complete (24 bassinets) ............. 34,625 Intensive Care Suite, complete (6 beds)....... 19,200 Main Entrance Lobby, complete ............. 15,400 Major Operating Room, complete............ 12,875 5-Bed Room for Children, complete.......... 10,400 Obstetrical Delivery Room, complete......... 9,800 Emergency Operating Room, complete........ 9,425 10-Bassinet Nursery Room, complete ......... $ 7,450 Emergency Recovery Room (3 beds).......... 6,925 2-Bed Room for Adults, complete............ 5,950 Fracture Room, complete ................... 5,850 3-Bed Room for Children, complete.......... 5,140 Children's Play Room ...................... 5,100 Meditation Chapel ........................ 4,400 Multi -purpose Children's Room, complete...... 4,200 Labour Room, complete .................... 3,200 Furnishings for Doctors' Library and Hospital Board Room ................ 2,600 Operating Room Table .................... 2,500 Operating Room Light ..................... 1,600 Furnishings for Chapel ..................... 1,200 Incubator for Newborns .................... 700 Oxygen Tent for Child or Adult ............. 605 Furnishings for 5-Crib Infants' Room.......... 500 Recovery Room Stretcher ................... 375 Furnishings for Children's Play Room.......... 310 Bassinet for Nursery ....................... 225 Hi -low Patient Bed ........................ 175 Standard Patient Bed ..................... 110 OUR HOSPITAL BUILDING FUND for Ajax and Pickering General Hospital GENERAL CHAIRMAN HARRY A. NEWMAN, Q.C. GENERAL CO-CHAIRMEN HONORARY TREASURER CLARE BALSDON R. D. THOMPSON KENNETH H. J. CLARKE DIVISIONS AND COMMITTEES COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY W. A. ANDERSON, Chairman JAMES CARRIGAN R. D. FLEMING A. S. MCLEAN K. D. MORLEY CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS E. R. HENRY, Co -Chairman JOHN L. LAY, Co -Chairman HOSPITAL FAMILY DR. D. I. GOVE, Chairman MRS. ANN KING MRS. F. Pow ADMINISTRATION L. H. TAYLOR, Treasurer PERSONAL GIFTS ELWIN S. SMYTH, Chairman GEORGE A. ROBINSON J. K. SANDERS AREA CANVASS BALFOUR SLEIGHTHOLM, Chairman ELMER ANNIS LEONARD GATES GORDON D. HEPDTTCH ROBERT HOLOBON W. G. LAWSON E. C. PETITJEAN BEN RUDDELL PUBLIC INFORMATION T. J. WHEELER, Chairman A. S. BALDRY ROBERT BYRON E. C. PHELAN MRS. R. S. RUDDY MRS. E. WETHERALL 103 KINGSTON ROAD WEST - P.O. BOX 209 • PICKERING, ONTARIO - WHITEHALL 2-0650 t x2023-035-bw