THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE MONDAY. HOSPITAL continued Jrcm page RAIL 1 continued from page The expansion will also increase the size of the existing emergency room. The U Hospital's average patient occupancy is about po perceht; feaving few beds for emergencies, said Boiton. Over the past five years', the hospital has been on "trauma 'divert" 27 percent of the time. Trauma divert is a signal' given to emergency crews and ambulances 'that the hospital cannot''' take any more trauma i ' '' patients, "In "the" past.' we have "been on trauma divert for too iarjze a percentage of time," Barton Said. "We have been making a real effort to better 'in the organize'our resources '"'--: ' last five months." Since last summer, the hospital has" decreased its time" or! trauma divert from 27 to percent " ' '' Barton said the decrease is associ-ate- d - ; 1 with the seasons there are more trauma patients in the summer months than in the winter but he also saidthe push to better utilize resources has paid off The recovery room has been used as an intensive-car- e unit when no other beds have been available. Barton said the decrease in per-centa- ge can overshadow the problem. "There are times we simpiy are not going on divert when we should . 1 light rail spi'H No place is currently designated for the structure Originally it would have been located in the stadi-.iparkir g ct, but since the lot will house the light-fa- il station, it has become less desirable, Said Randy Turpin, assistant vice president for facilities management , He said the .Vuinex Building parking 4ot is "jttractive " but the U will explore all options ' ' ' before picking a location. ' ' The current plan is for the parking structure to accommodate some public parking, but the irajori-t- y of stalls will be for university use. There wli' also be a shuttle to take people from the lot directstation. ' ly to the light-raTurpin tviJ trie U and the' Utah Transit Authority are moving ahead as if the federal funding is at hand, but without that money, construction cf the line will probably be postponed. U Fresident J. Bernard Machen was a vocal supporter of the line, and spent time with each City Council member before the Dec. 14 vote. "The U is weli positioned to tske advantage of light rail," Machen said. The section of the meeting devoted to light rail lasted more than three hours, and spectators spilled over into the hallway. During the public forum, 54 citizens addressed the council, 26 against and 28 for the light-ra- il extension. They included students, faculty and staff of the U, all of whom spoke out in favor of the line. The council should not pass up the opportunity to bring light rail to the U, said Barbara Brown, i ,. . t! " professor of family and consumer studies. A whole ' generation would miss an opportunity to learn the ' value of mass transit. . '. ti' ; ,.: Machen said the cohesion befween the lacuity, ' staff and student body was one rftfe" most jmpor?." tant reasons light rail gained the council's approvaL . The line rasthreatened in November when council members voted 3 to step light rail negotiations. Tom Regan, Keith Christensen, Joanne Mil-nand Deeda Seed were not satisfied with the ' joint agreement between the U, the Salt lake City Mayor's Office," the Utah Department" of Transportation and UTA. As negotiations continued throughout the iraniii. council' chairman Keith Christensen came out with a list of changes necessary to win his aoprovaL Among the conditions were that light rail roust rur en Sundays, UTA should not be allowed' to 2sk tor a referendum which would tax only Salt Lake City and the U should pay 15 percent of oper' ' ating costs. "It is neither possible nor appropriate for the U to pay part of the construction and maintenance costs," said Fred Esplin, vice president of university relations. A letter from Machen to the council outlined what the U was willing to do and what was out of the question. Machen gave four reasons why the U should not pay part of the operating cost: The students and employees of the U pay taxes that help support light rail, the U pays UTA $875,000 per year to allow in students free d access to public transportation, the U has itself to building a parking structure that will, in part, serve the light rail station, and the 4-- er com-r.;iite- j&k'MBV ID. 2000 '3 provide shuttle service from the station to the rest of the czmpus. "When it came time to make a motion, Christensen decided to sheive his request about the U, but he held fast to his beSef that UTA shouldn't be able to ask for a referendum taxing citizens unless it includes all of the cities benefiting from the line. UTA cannot pu,t forth its own referendum, but the council wanted to make sure that it couldn't lobby for one limited to Salt Lake City taxpayers alone. Once the wording on the provision was between former Mayor Deedee Corra-din- i, UTA General Manager John Inglish and the council, the motion was unanimously approved. It was the second substitute motion amended three times which was finally voted on ind J brought light rail to the U. ' " d ven though the motion was unanimous, council member David Buhler thought the council remained divided between Christensen, ' M'iner ana Rogan and the rest of the council. Seed looked to be the swing vote that would have pushed light rail through whether the other three consented or not, he said. Buhler, who is also a member of the U Board of Trustees, said he would have voted against the ' motion. He said he is not satisfied with the 400 South alignment, because small businesses line the street Also, he is concerned that the council committed part of Sait Lake City's sales tax io light rail operating costs without getting any financial support from other cities. Despite his concerns, Buhler said the U spur will benefit the campus by lowering the number of cars that crowd the ITs parking lots. U will 1 1 '"',, ''.:.; More than just trauma patients are being turned away, and those ' patients who are admitted face long waiting times, Barton said. The hospital originally received legislative approval for an expansion in 1993, but the vice president for health sciences, Dr. John Matsen, decided to explore the use of hospital beds around the valley instead of AUDITION expanding. ""With past administration's there has been a lot of concern about our lack bf progress,". Barton said. "The current rnfeistfajion finally realized what we heed to do .is' expand on our own campus." ," ' " Planning the expansion in 1993 became complicated when the administration was not in agreement about which part of the hospital to expand and what the new facilities should be used for, said current Senior Vice President for units of the hospital were working at capacity, he pushed the Trustees for expansion approval. Since the Legislature has previously green lighted the project, it is possible the .U Hospital will not have to go through the approval process again. It has yet to be determined whether the previous approval covers the current project. "To the extent that we are unable to accept trauma patients, we are unable to train students. This is really critical to our academic mission," Betz said. "It is aiso critical for the community. We must have an appropriate level of trauma serintensive-car- e vices." The hospital is in the process of selecting a Hospital Space Commit-tewhich will be chaired by Linda Amos, associate vice president fcr health sciences. The committee will look at ways the hospital can maximize available space and locate the most urgent needs ibr any new space yet to be built. If Barton got his way, all new space would go to operating rooms. "We have 12 beds in the surgical intensive-car- e unit and an average number of 20 patients," he said. "The new space should be operating rooms; that is the most desperate need." The existing hospital facility was remodeled in 1981, without any expansion dming the past 19 years. Acordinj to Bauon, the average hospital Is remodeled every 18 to 25 OPY !; , Kingsbury Hail . .. ffssKsents 1 Cali 435-S52-33- Sign-i- n for information 02 Sinking ineng , Auditioners should: Prepare 16 bars of two osfrastifrg; . musical tneatre songs Prepare one tvo-rn,- m " r cci,pmaocmt. i jv 0 At'ons4.'00-&0&rir- fl Atit3OT W)- - WJ pra a iu, 4. " ,n iL ni Directed by Tim Threlfail -- ram Ml 1I II J1A 9 . contemporary moriplop.ee;; An accompanist will be piovided Please bring headshot and resume Also accepting applications for 1 ' technical positions " ; fHday; january 1 2000 Knighi Mangum Building, Km 15 ' Brigham Young University : -- 51grHn 6:00 prn - 8 30 pm Son&'Monologue. Auditors: , pancmg Auditions 8:30 am 10 00 pn? January 15, 2(K,0 - - ' -- 9.30 am Stgn-in AudVtions 9.30 1-30 am Singing 11:30 12'30 am A'Jditioi.j pm Dandrtg -- Directed by John Caywood 1 Rehearsals begin May AH actors wiil be paid Housing available v Saturo; ' 8, 2000 AMPHITHEATRE & CENTER FCR Callbacks for all Provo aud'tiom on Saturday, liiuary IS, 2DC0 A El S UnUBiBdOajGlIID ENROLLMENT IS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE UNIVERSITY ENDORSED STUDENT HEALTH INSURANCE e, years. SALT LAKE CITY Thiirakv. January 13, 2000 No Appointment Necessary " Health Sciences Dr. Lorris Bets. Appointed in June, Betz reopened discussions. Once he received documented proof that the operating and S The Tuacahn Amphitheatre and Center for the Arts near Si Gz, ... it..'!. holding auditions for their Summer Festival of Theatre 2000. , ; Coverage Includes Services For: Prescription Drug Card Hospital Coverage Dependent Coverage Physician Services Student Health Services Early Enrollment Options For Assistance or Exsrollmenit information please call: GM SOUTHWEST Telephone: gmsw2mrmaiLnet or visit our web site at www. gm south west com E-M- ail: ham-'Tneredb- ut newly-electe- be." he said. : ;