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Show Sun Advocate ponmo. What's in future for hospitals? There is good news and bad news for Castleview Hospital and the Carbon Hospital Reactivation Corp. The good news is that both organizations have received from the state on their projects to expand the the medical care facilities available in our area, although both Castleviews expansion and the reopening of the plans before they were passed. old hospital were scaled-dow- n 18 new will beds instead of the Castleview get only requested 25, while the reactivation group has seen its dream deflated from a hospital to an ancillary clinic not approved for overnight care. But the bad news is that both plans may be obsolete. The projections and statistics gathered for the two hospital plans were made at a time when the economy was skyrocketing, when the coal mines were pumping millions of dollars into local businesses, and when the future appeared to offer nothing but growth. It looked to all those concerned that we would soon outstrip our ability to provide health care for the local population. Then, like dominoes, local mines began their long succession of layoffs, and the bright predictions for the future tumbled. Now, with unemployment hovering near e highs in Carbon and Emery counties, concern another medical about additional hospital beds or of those residents low on list the are priority facility to without a survive worried about the struggle go-ahe- ad full-sca- le ' 4A Wednesday, May 4, 19B3 ' Si ...YOU SHOULD BE OUST FINE. MR.B1MUR0SE. ASSUMING VOU AVOID ANY SUDDEN SHOCK all-tim- day-to-d- ay job. In our current economy, the reopening of the old could in whatever form, actually cause more hospital, if it the dilutes harm than good patient load for medical two counties. Whoever the facilities now operating in operates the new clinic would expect a profit, and they would have to draw that profit from a decreasing population base and a shrinking patient load, causing rates to rise. Castleview could find itself in a similar situation, as they would build beds that might conceivably stay empty if our current economic trend continues. It is true that both projects have merit. And now may be the time to prepare for the long run, taking advantage of lower interest rates and construction costs to build the planned expansion at Castleview and to start the renovation at the old hospital. But those involved in both projects should consider their steps carefully, taking each on solid ground. I one only after they are sure they are Now is not the time for past emotions and grandstanding rhetoric to blind us to the reality of our situation. We urge those involved in both health care expansion projects to weigh the future carefully before proceeding, making their , decisions to go ahead based on the true needs of the ; community, not on personal convictions. Castle Country left on its own? Would you throw a brick to a drowning man? That seems to be what the federal government has done with regards to Price and the economic impact of the Spanish Fork mudslide. Despite President Reagans disaster declaration for those areas affected by the slide, it appears that Carbon and Emery counties will be left to their own devices to survive the current crisis. Reagans response to Utahs cry for help was quick, but it does not appear to be equitable. Seeing to the needs of the residents of Thistle, the town that has been destroyed by the lake created behind the huge slide, is the first priority, and concern about the danger to Spanish Fork is Coftrr 1983 Hw castle country observer Where's the good news? lot of stories that make people sad. After all, reading about a mudslide destroying a town or coal miners losing their jobs wont make you smile. But after glancing through a number of recent issues, Ive concluded that a majority of Sun Advocate stories are upbeat and positive. By far, most stories that appear in the newspaper are about good they tell things happening to people about a proud parents son or daughter receiving an award or about a local baseball team enjoying a victory. I guess readers just notice and remember the bad news more. By DAVID LONG Managing Editor The Sun Advocate has been flooded with complaints ever since the massive mudslide in Spanish Fork Canyon. It seems that every time I pick up the phone some angry reader is yelling at me When are you going about this or that to put some good news in the paper? Why cant you do something about the mudslide? Im sick and tired of all these layoffs. Why do you have to keep reminding us of how bad things are? Sorry, folks. Bad things do happen and we cant ignore them. Id like to see our newspaper full of the kind of news that makes you feel good, rather than the steady flow of bad news weve seen lately. But that just isnt the way things are. Some people say we newspaper people are always looking at the bad side of life. They say we print only news that is tragic, unusual or sad. Im the first to admit that we publish a had a losing season. Some subscribers tell me they dont want We get , any bad news in the newspaper. enough blood and gore! op the, TV,; one reader told me not too long ago. I want to be entertained when I read the newspaper, not get sick to my stomach. His view isnt uncommon. Even President Reagan last week asked newspaper publishers meeting in New York City to start printing more good news. Hes like all politicians. They want the world to be a happy place especially When I first fell in love with the newspaper profession, I knew it wouldnt be easy. Being the bearer of bad news is never fun. while theyre in office. The role of a newspaper is to inform you, not make you happy. If the Sun Advocate only bothered to report the good news, we would be cheating you. It would be dishonest. I dont enjoy having to report on coal some of them miners losing their jobs are my friends, too. Its no fun passing along news about car accidents, fires and the fact that the colleges basketball team The next time you pick up the Sun Advocate, try not to be too disappointed when you see a headline announcing more bad news. Just turn the page theres bound to be something there to make you smile. justifiable. ; But while the water behind the dam threatens the lives and property of a few hundred Spanish Fork residents, its continued existence threatens the livelihood of the thousands that make their homes in Carbon and Emery counties. The physical damage caused directly by the slide is no comparison to the economic damage being caused in our communities each day as coal shipments cease, mines shut down and tourists and travelers are forced to bypass our cities and towns. The evidence of danger might not lie on the surface here in Castle Country, but like those cracks that appear on the the problem runs much surface of the deeper. The strain of survival in these all but desperate economic times could crack apart our comunities if it is allowed to continue, with no aid from those who control the fedeial purse strings. We are not looking for a handout, but only for a fair chance at surviving. The hearty people that make up this community have survived rough times before, and if we are given the means, we will build our own life rafts. We ask the federal officials to take a closer, look at the dangers that exist for our economy as a result of the natural disaster in Spanish Fork Canyon before we have disappeared below the surface of these stormy economic waters for the last time. slide-turned-da- m, paul harvey Sunny side up Did you see the recent cartoon where a youngster was about to show his daddy his report card Now and he was saying, before look at this you daddy, remember they just print the bad news. Page one, preoccupied with things gone wrong, necessarily focuses our attention on the debit side of the ledger. Lets audit the credits and see how 1983 looks sunny side up. 1983 so far is lookin good! Unemployment, 10.4 percent and improving. Employment, 99.1 percent near record high. Inflation is in reverse; the cost of Lving is actually going down; everybody gets a raise! that Most; everywhere pollution is measured, both air and water, it is measurably less. Medication, sanitation and nutrition have increased the in human life span by one generation have added to your life another 16 weeks in just the past year! Uppers and downers are a fading fad; drug misuse is measurably less. ' home front, On the marriage is back in style. The one-thi- rd MTMIE SfCXW CQMlMg .?TWS ISfT !! number of divoces last year declined for the first year in 20. And the number of marriages increased for the seventh year in a row. Agribusiness: It is now possible to breed milk cows as big as elephants, producing more milk, more calves. Genetic engineering can improve humans also, though scientists fear you are not quite ready to hear about that. We have had to survive a degree of public paranoia to harness each new science. In also the obstructionists will not prevail. That will produce a whole new harvest of things the names of which arent even in the dic- Around the world 45 other nations are engaged in some kind of war. For now, at least, not ours. We can hope that war is going out of style. On campuses the new preoccupation is with vocational education. History will not find many, if any, of our 200 years when we have enjoyed less social ferment, less labor strife, less bio-geneti- cs tionary yet. In a sensei more significant, the United States Supreme Court is ever-so-gradual- ly taking a right turn. That long era of deference to the rights of to phase wrongdoers is out. put Americas dependency foreign oil is production less are on and well into a whole spec- trum of alternative energies sun, wind, tides, geothermal steam, alcohol from waste. 77VTTTT disease and more e prosperity. Dont let anyone convince you that you are more dependent than you are or that our nation is less virile than it is. By all means, dont let the headline writers rain on your parade. As Mark Twain is said to have said of Richard take-hom- Wagners music, Its not so bad as sounds! it nearly 1983, Lo Angeles Times Syndicate |