Friday, April 14, 1967

under the Hospital Insurance, but there is no progress being made so far in that respect.

Now, while I am speakin in relation to the Tuberculosis control, I think that this Province owes much to the fifirector of this division, Dr. Found, who has 'ven of his services over the years. Certainly the trend in this program has been that t e cases are fast disappearing, and the emphasis has been placed on mass surveys of X-Rays and tuberculin testing and the results are certainly most encouraging. I have noticed, for an example, that the admissions to the Sanitorium in 1964 was 101, in 1965 it was 86, in 1966 it was again down to 75. In 1965 the average patient’s stay in the Hospital was 229 days, and in 1966 it was 112 days or less than half. This is most satisfactory. The Sanitarium. as Honourable Members know, was overflowing and had large wait- ing lists twenty-five years ago. Now, since that time, and at the present time the San- itorium I would say is largely about two thirds empty as far as TB. patients are con- cerned. I went through the empty wing last fall, I think we might call it the west wing, although I am not too sure of directions out there, and when I went through this wing I enquired of Dr. Found what use we might be able to make of it. I am very happy to say that through the co-operation of Dr. Found and the Department of Welfare that we are now putting the finishing touches on this wing to convert it into a thirty bed Chronic Care Hospital that will be used for advanced cases of Multiple Sclerosis or other cripplin diseases, and I expect within the next two or three weeks, at any rate, that this Institution will be opened to take care of the most needy of the cases that will be available.

Henry W. Wedge: Will this qualify under the Hospital grants?

Honourable Keir Clark: This will qualify under the Welfare, under the Can- ada Assistance Plan, so that 50% will come from Ottawa. It will also help us to enlarge the number of patients in the Institution and lower the probation day rate in the T. B. section of the Institution. Now, at the other extreme of the building, the Rehabilitation Centre, and we certainly have our problems there, when Dr. Gencheff left this Province. The first visit I made to this Rehabilitation cen- tre, I found only six patients in the Institution, and the patient load was dropping almost daily, no new patients were being admitted. I enquired from the Prince Edward Island Medical Society, told them the situation, and asked them for their advice. They said that they recommended that the Institution be kept o n and that it might be declared an open Hospital, in the sense, that any Doctor mi t admit patients there for a limited amount of treatment, hysiotherapy, occupations therapy, and other types of treatment which we could do t ere better than in one of the Gen- eral Hos its a, and it is now being opened for this purpose and I believe that twen Doctors ve asked to on the staff, and I note in reading the Agnew Report whic irust recently came in, t t they seem to go along with the change in this Institution.

0 quote from this report on page 80; “We do not have the figures but the occupancy dropped severely in 1966. Measures have been taken to alter the function somewhat, and make better use of the facilities. The Medical Staff Or nizational pattern has been altered recently to invite ap lication from practicing p ysicians in the com- munity and a number have respo ed. The philosophy of the Centre will be still some- what the same, however, the physicians will have more direct responsibility for the care of the patients rather than transferring it to the Director of the unit. It is pre- sumed that this will not become an active treatment hospital, in the usual sense, but will provide more convalescent service as well as rehabilitation. If this is the philos- ophy, we thoroughly subscribe to it and heartily commend such further development." I can say, Mr. Speaker, that this is the philosophy and we are ve pleased to see that the Agnew Report approves of the steps that we have thus far en.

Now, I might just briefly mention the Immunization Program. This, of course, is a program that has been carried on through the years with much success, and inoc- ulations are given against, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, smallpox, and for the first time, this year we have added the vaccine for measles. We hope that pre- school children will receive this immuization and that, before the end of the current

calender year, the rogram can get into the schools and that all school age children who have not had meas es will have an opportunity to 'be inoculated.

L. George Dewar: That will be a fairly costly program.

. Honourable Keir Clark: It will be a fairly costly program, but I think you, Sir, as a Doctor, will concur that while this disease can be mild, it can also have many complications and also be dangerous in certain cases, and can cause even death. So I

_133_