Thumbs up/down: Voluntary Action Center, Mercy ER, continued tuition reciprocity
(Published Monday, July 2, 2007 11:37:01 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
To the Voluntary Action Center. The center at 159 W. Grand Ave. in Beloit is helping cool the homes of low-income senior citizens who have health problems. Its program to provide free air conditioners began in 2000. It first got funding from the Rock County Council on Aging in 2003 and placed 16 units that year. The program placed 31 and 30 in the last two years. In the heat of summer, Janesville's Carol LaCount is appreciative. The 63-year-old retired factory worker and cancer survivor battles allergies and couldn't afford an air conditioner on her part-time earnings and Social Security. To donate money or a used air conditioner to this worthy program, or to inquire about eligibility for getting such a unit, visit the office, call (608) 365-1278 or e-mail info@vacbeloit.org.
To the pinch at Mercy's emergency room. Residents often bemoan long waits at the hospital's emergency room. But on Saturday, June 23, the situation became, well, critical. The understaffed emergency room was so busy that patients in some ambulances were turned away. Mercy says a high volume of critically ill patients, and a physician who couldn't work because of an "emergency situation," caused the problem. You would think a hospital, of all places, would realize that emergencies happen and that adequate staff would be available despite one doctor's "emergency situation." Hospital officials say they've taken steps to ensure the situation won't occur again. Short of a disaster, it shouldn't. A recent Gazette series chronicled Mercy's healthy finances and many expansions. Perhaps Mercy needs to divert a few of those expansion dollars toward ensuring that its emergency room always has enough doctors.
To adding to the Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area. Gov. Jim Doyle announced Wednesday that the Natural Heritage Land Trust will give the state 351 acres adjoining the wildlife area in southwestern Rock County. The property was obtained with $227,000 from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund and $633,000 in federal funds. The former farmland will be restored to a natural state to support prairie, sedge meadow, emergent wetland and shore bird habitat. It will improve the nearby Sugar River and be managed by the Department of Natural Resources to offer more outdoor recreation and wildlife habitat. The acquisition shows again why legislators would do well to support Doyle's call to boost money in the Stewardship Fund and protect such lands from development.
To continued tuition reciprocity. Governors of Wisconsin and Minnesota have settled a long-simmering dispute that will allow tens of thousands of students to keep attending universities in their neighboring state for tuition comparable to what they would pay in their home state. Higher education officials in both states still must approve the deal. It would continue a nearly 40-year-old pact that broadens educational opportunities. Because resident tuition at the University of Minnesota is higher than that of the University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin residents pay much less than Minnesota residents to attend school in the Gopher State. That troubled university officials in Minnesota because supplemental payments sent by Wisconsin to make up for the disparity went into Minnesota's general fund. Under the new deal, Wisconsin's annual payments, more than $7 million, will go directly to Minnesota's university system.
To the Voluntary Action Center. The center at 159 W. Grand Ave. in Beloit is helping cool the homes of low-income senior citizens who have health problems. Its program to provide free air conditioners began in 2000. It first got funding from the Rock County Council on Aging in 2003 and placed 16 units that year. The program placed 31 and 30 in the last two years. In the heat of summer, Janesville's Carol LaCount is appreciative. The 63-year-old retired factory worker and cancer survivor battles allergies and couldn't afford an air conditioner on her part-time earnings and Social Security. To donate money or a used air conditioner to this worthy program, or to inquire about eligibility for getting such a unit, visit the office, call (608) 365-1278 or e-mail info@vacbeloit.org.
To the pinch at Mercy's emergency room. Residents often bemoan long waits at the hospital's emergency room. But on Saturday, June 23, the situation became, well, critical. The understaffed emergency room was so busy that patients in some ambulances were turned away. Mercy says a high volume of critically ill patients, and a physician who couldn't work because of an "emergency situation," caused the problem. You would think a hospital, of all places, would realize that emergencies happen and that adequate staff would be available despite one doctor's "emergency situation." Hospital officials say they've taken steps to ensure the situation won't occur again. Short of a disaster, it shouldn't. A recent Gazette series chronicled Mercy's healthy finances and many expansions. Perhaps Mercy needs to divert a few of those expansion dollars toward ensuring that its emergency room always has enough doctors.
