Bethpage-Tribune_1986-01-30

              BSffKE KSUU!B.^^.K-BETHB
»GE
Island Trees Plainedge
also serving
Seaford
BT 4-copies
Bethpage Library
4 7 Powell AVE
Bethpage^ NY 11714
Uia Jsempage r m m •««.(¥
VOL. 20 NO. 42 Week of January 30 - February 5,1986* 20 cents per copy
Mid-Island Hospital and Ednor
Together For Home Care
TOBAY Garbage, Litter and Waste
Amendments Approved
The Mid-Island Hospital,
Bethpage, and the Ednor
Home Care Company,
Bethpage, have entered into
a joint venture call Mid-
Island Home Care Asso*
ciates, for continued patient
care at home, it was
announced today by James
J. Dickson, Administrator
of the 237 bed Mid-Island
Hospital.
Dickson said of the part­nership
created by The
Ednor Home Care affilia­tion,
"with hospitals facing
Traffic Safety Improvement
For Central Avenue
Oyster Bay Town Super-visor
Joseph Colby,
announced that the Nassau
County Board of Supervi­sors
has approved a measure
designed to improve traffic
safety on Central Avenue in
Bethpage.
According to Colby^ who
sponsored the measure
before the six-member
Board, the current align­ment
of the section of Cen­tral
Avenue in question,
consists of a bridge over the
Seaford-Oyster Bay Express-v/
ay, followed by a dip in the
road allowing it to pass
under the Long Island Rail­road
crossing; this, in turn,
is followed by a sharp
reverse curve which
seriously limits visibility and
sight distance as cars pass
under the railroad trestle.
Supervisor Colby further
noted that the development
in recent years of a number
of industrial plants along
Central Avenue South (a
side street intersecting the
area), has added to traffic
congestion and resulted in a
higher accident rate.
"The $375,000 project
which the Board has
approved calls for the super­elevation
of the roadway at
the curves as well as the wid­ening
of the road to permit
the installation of turn lanes,
it is expectd that these
meausres will improve the
sight distance for oncoming
motorists thus reducing the
high incidences of rear end
collisions being expe­rienced,"
Colby said.
"I am confident that the
roadwork authorized will
result not only in improved
traffic flow through this
heavily-travelled area, but it
will also result in safer driv­ing
conditions for all motor­ists
using Central Avenue,"
Colby continued.
"I was happy to have
worked for the approval of
this important road project
which will benefit all Oyster
Bay residents living and
working in the Bethpage
area," Colby concluded.
new and stringent federal
regulations, our health care
facility has studied current
and future patient care
requirements and entered
into this contract in order to
supply needed and critical
medical services at home to
our patients.
The Mid-Island Home
Care Associates is a com­prehensive
health care affili­ation
which will provide
Mid-Island Hospital's
patients with a complete Une
of medical equipment and
home care services. Where
required, the affiliate suppr
lies continuous respirator
needs as well as I.V. Therapy
in the home environment.
In addition, life saving
equipment such as custom
made orthotics, ostomy
supplies, diabetes nlonitor-ing
services, enteral feeding,
parenteral feeding, pain
therapy, respiratory ther­apy,
repair and services
facilities and immediate
home emergency seryices
are provided.
Mr. Dickson added, "this
joint venture offers assuran­ces
of an unbroken and con­tinuous
path of patient care
and family assistance."
The Mid-Island Hospital
assures its patients that its
affiliate is completely famil­iar
with the patient's medical
history in conjunction with
doctors, discharge planners
and other hospital profes­sionals
who play an impor­tant
role in the communities
heahh care needs.
Francis K.. Scobee* Commamder
Mike Smitli, Pilot
Eoiiald E. McNair, Mission Specialist
Elliiiori OiiiiKukai^ Mission Specialist
^4 n Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist
1^ ^ * \ ' * ^ t ^ Gregory Jarvis, Pay load Specialist
^ ^ Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space
The Oyster Bay Town
Board has approved
amendments designed to
strengthen the existing regu­lations
relating to the
Town's Garbage, Litter and
Waste Ordinance.
Following a public hear­ing,
the Board approved the
revisions and amendments
to the ordinance which had
been proposed by the
Department of Public'
Works as a result of concern
about diminishing landfill
space and increased costs.
The new provisions
include a change which
Medical
Malpraetiee
by Re!J>. Norman F. Lent
The Nation is in the midst
of a medical liability crisis
which threatens to push
affordable, quality health
care out of the reach of
many Americans. On Long
Island, physicians are pay­ing
the highest malpractice
insurance premiums in the
country, in some cases up to
$100,000 per year. Unfortu­nately,
the cost of high insu­rance
is passed on to the
consumer in the form of
higher medical bills. Also,
more doctors are practicing
costly "defensive medicine"
and some are refusing to
treat high-risk patients. In
sum, health care consumers
are paying higher prices for
less coverage.
i have introduced legisla­tion,
HR 3865, to address
this serious national prob­lem.
Many of the reforms
incorporated in my bill will
help ensure lower costs and
greater accessibility to qual­ity
health care.
Under HR 3865, those
states which adopt the
administrative tort reforms
recommended in the bill
would be eligible for grant
assistance funds. These
reforms include: elimination
of double payments i'oi a
single medical procedure or,
hospital stay; a sensible cap
of $250,000 on the amount
awarded to compensate for
non-economic losses, such
as pain and suffering; provi­sions
which allow for perio­dic
installment payments
rather than lump-sum pay­ments;
and a limit on con­tingency
fees charged by
allows a police officer or
peace officer to seize any
vehicle or its contents if he
believes there is probable
cause. It also increases the
fines imposed on violators
of any section of the ordi­nance
from $500 to $1,000
and allows for imprison­ment
of up to 15 days, or
both;
Tipping fees, under. the
amended ordinances,
increase the cost of disposal
from $28 per ton to$l .60 per
100 lbs. or $32 per ton.
Bulky items and open body
containers will now pay $4!5
per ton.
Other amendments
include a minimum charge
of one ton for all vehicles
entering the landfill, a fee for
roll-off containers and a,
maximum vehicle weight of
120,000 pounds permitted
through the scalehouse.
All disposal permits,
which are issued by the
Town Clerk's office, com­mence
a calendar year on
February 1st; at that time
the new ordinance require­ments
and fees will take
effect.
Ray Retires
\ i >
. _^jjt*„-«*"4sp'^-,''*' Mf'"^^
Bethpage's own *merry mailman*, Ray Gimbiit,
is retiring from the Postal Service after 24 years of
delivering mail in this town.
His main route was the numbered streets,
where he was a part of growing families....watch­ing
the children rise from toddlers to brides and
grooms. His happy face and cheery "good morn­ing"
will be missed by the many friends he made
over the years, as he enters a well deserved retire­ment.
Friends and follow employees will honor Ray
at a retirement dinner on February 16th.
lawyers.
I am strongly supportive
of efforts to weed out
incompetent health practi­tioners
or "quacks." How­ever,
I am deeply concerned
oyer the zeal with which
many suits are filed and the
current explosion of liability
costs. These skyrocketing
costs add billions of dollars
to health care services.
More compelling than the
economic costs, though
these are certainly signifi­cant,
is the effect on the
(Continued on Pogs 5)