Page 6-Saturday, June 16, 1979-The Michigan Daily
'U' administration defends handling of hospital plans
By JOHN GOYER DENYING PRESS charges of Members of the planning committee from 923 to 900, a compromise with the
As the eight University Regents filed "arrogance" in the matter, Smith said, said the hospital, under the plan sub- cuts envisioned by the regional health
into their meeting room in the Ad- "I don't think our actions justify any mitted, would add to the cost of health planners, according to Smith.
ministration Building yesterday mor- such assertion." care in the state and would add to the Smith also cited small offices for
ning, one of them passed around an Smith said University and regional problem of excessive numbers of faculty members (100 square feet), the
editorial which appeared in the mor- planners have disagreed on points such hospital beds in southeastern Michigan. consolidation of nursing stations, and
ning edition of a Detroit newspaper. as the type of population figures to use Smith also said regional planners the eliminations of some educational
The column was one of many in recent in order to estimate what the occupan- were at fault for not recognizing that space from the hospital as concessions
weeks which has criticized University cy rate of the hospital would be when the new hospital is to be used primarily the University has made to answer the
officials in their handling of the plans completed. "I don't think it's arrogant as a teaching hospital as opposed to a concerns of the regional health plan-
for the new University Hospital. After to make our point and to indicate to community hospital. Smith added that ners.
the meeting, several of -the school's them what is our point," he said, the former classification would justify
administrators responded to such The plans, currently under con- morespaceforthehospital. SMITH NOTED that the regional
allegations of circumventing the nor- sideration by the Michigan Department He also said that while the regional planners have the responsibility of
mal planning procedures. of Public Health, were rejected in April planners told the University to cut the trying to reduce the number of hospital
Interim University President Allan by a regional planning commission. cost of the hospital, they never cited beds in southeastern Michigan, in order
Smith responded specifically to The department, which has the final programs that were unneeded in the to control rising health care costs. But
charges that University officials were say in the decision, will decide by new hospital. he said the area that has too many beds
circumventing the regular planning August 8 whether the University may THE UNIVERSITY is asking the is Detroit, not Ann Arbor.
process by bringing the hospital plans build the hospital. state to borrow some $200 million "I think you have to begin with the
to the Michigan Department of Public THE NEGATIVE recommendation through the sale of bonds to finance the understanding that there are substan-
Health unchanged from a version that was accompanied by the suggestion construction of the hospital. tive groups in southeastern Michigan
had been earlier rejected by a regional that the University come up with a The University has already cut the that have staked out positions for them-
planning commission. cheaper, scaled-down hospital plan. number of beds in the planned hospital selves," Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann
--__Arbor) said yesterday.
The regional planners of the Com-
prehensive Health Planning Council
peop e ' represent Detroit-area medical groups,
Boat people forced out to sea aker claimed, adding that there are
2300 surplus hospital beds in the Detroit
area.
From AP and UPI
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The Malaysian gover-
nment said yesterday it will force the 76,000 Vietnamese
"boat people" sheltered here back out .to sea, and it joined
two other Southeast Asian countries in a naval effort to drive
refugees away from their shores.
Deputy Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the
government would evict the refugees immediately and tow
them to international waters as soon as boats are available.
After that, he said, the government would empower patrols
to "shoot on sight" at any boats trying to land in Malaysia.
IT WAS NOT immediately clear whether the fierce war-
ning, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, was a scare tactic or truly a new policy.
But Mahathir said the police and navy would be em-
powered to repel any "boat people" entering Malaysian
waters. He vowed the mass deportation would take place as
soon as the government obtains enough boats.
"The government will arm itself with the necessary
legislation soon to shoot on sight any Vietnamese illegal im-
migrants entering our waters," Mahathir said. "We will be
harsh with them."
IN WASHINGTON, State Department press officer
Thomas Reston said the United States had no official confir-
mation of the report. "We would find any such action incon-
sistent with the previous record of the government of
Malaysia in terms of humanitarian assistance," Reston said.
"We, of course, would deplore any action which would lead to
the deaths of refugees."
The refugees here, part of an estimated 350,000 Indochinese
"boat people" seeking resettlement in Southeast Asia, have
been living in camps until relief agencies can find room for
them in Western countries.
Relief officials say thousands of others trying to flee Viet-
nam on overcrowded boats have died at sea.
BAKER SAID he understood there is
a problem, but that it is Detroit's
proble'm. He pointed out that even
though specialized care facilities
similar in sophistication to the planned
University Hospital exist in Detroit,
doctors do not refer patients to Detroit
hospitals.
Baker also said doctors refer patients
to University Hospital instead because
of its good reputation, and he cited the
teaching and research functions of the
hospital as factors that make it dif-
ferent from a community hospital, and
thus exempt from some of the regional
planning guidelines used by regional
planners.
Oxygen deficiency at plant
may have caused death
(Continued fromPaget2)
tering the area to inspect it, a labor
safety official said.
Inspectors gathered at the Consumer's
Power Co. plant being built near
Midland seeking the cause of the in-
cident, which took place inside an in-
strumentation tank within the core of
one of the plant's unfinished twin reac-
tors.
TWO OF THE injured remained
hospitalized yesterday at the Midland
Hospital Center but were in good con-
dition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Nine others who inhaled the gas were
treated and released Thursday.
Killed was Donald Kinsala, 54, of
Midland, a site engineer for Babcock &
Wilcox Co., the firm that designed the
plant's reactors.
Kinsala was overcome by the gas af-
ter he entered the 28-foot-deep tank to
inspect it. However, he died of multiple
injuries, possibly suffered in a fall from
a ladder, utility officials said.
BEFORE HE entered the tank, tests
were conducted to determine if there
was sufficient oxygen within the'struc-
ture, said Joseph Wrzesinski, chief of
the state Department of Labor's Con-
struction Safety Division.
State occupational health and safety
law requires such tests before workers
enter any "confined space," Wrzesinski
said.
"We do know that a test was conduc-
ted and the area was found to be
deficient of oxygen," he said. "Why
Kinsala went down into the tank we
don't know yet. Whether he was pre-
warned, this will be part of the in-
vestigation."
IF KINSALA entered the tank with
the knowledge of the lack of oxygen, he
would have been violating state law,
Wrzesinski said.
"According to the health standards,
he should not have gone in if he knew it
was deficient of oxygen," he said.
In addition to state health and labor
officials, the accident was being in-
vestigated by inspectors from Con-
sumers, B&W and Bechtel Power
Corp., which is building the $1.67 billion
plant.
WRESINSKI SAID it probably would
be 4 to 5 days before state officials
finished interviewing other workers at
the site and were able to piece together
the sequence of events during the ac-
cident.
"We don't know what happened after
the test was conducted and the tank was
found to be deficient in oxygen," he
said. "We have not been able to really
get down to interview the project
manager."
The colorless, odorless argon was
being used in welding operations inside
the tank. The gas, which is not toxic but
can displace oxygen and is considered
an asphyxiant, is used to prevent
corrosion.