Watercooler Stories

Calgary clinic has patient shortage

CALGARY, Alberta, March 25 (UPI) -- A Calgary, Alberta, medical clinic says it has a severe patient shortage, despite the number of people in the Canadian city without family doctors.

The Calgary Foothills Primary Care Center said it was expecting to have between 1,000 and 1,500 patients once it got up and running, but in the three months since it opened, it has only signed up 200 people, the Calgary Herald reported Tuesday.

Doctors at the clinic, which is designed to treat patients suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said the situation is baffling when juxtaposed with figures estimating the number of people in the city without a family doctor at 200,000.

"We thought, 'If we built it, they will come.' We're not sure why that hasn't happened," said Dr. Richard Ward, who helped found the center. "We were told we would be full in one month."

Lorraine Bucholtz, director of service delivery with the primary care network, said the clinic is considering adding patients with arthritis, mental illness and other chronic illnesses to help offset the shortage, the newspaper reported.

Landlord offers cash to keep school open

EDMONTON, Alberta, March 25 (UPI) -- A Canadian landlord is offering a $100,000 guarantee that he can boost enrollment at an Edmonton, Alberta, school with an uncertain future.

Reg Appleyard, executive director of Meadowcroft Housing Society of Edmonton, told public school trustees that he will guarantee that 110 students are enrolled in Woodcroft Elementary School by Sept. 15, and the society will pay the school board nearly $5,000 for every student short of the goal, up to $98,224, the Edmonton, Alberta, Journal reported Tuesday.

The school board is set to decide in June whether to keep the school open despite low enrollment in recent years.

Appleyard said the mixed-income development is now requiring new residents to make a verbal agreement to send their children to the school.

"We've already started signing up people that will do that," Appleyard said.

"We bought this complex 30 years ago, and we've always set aside funds each year for crises or emergencies," he said. "We feel that this is probably the biggest crisis we've faced in 30 years, and so we are prepared to use some of our reserve funds to try to solve the Woodcroft Elementary School problem."

Small dog escapes gator's clutches

LUTZ, Fla., March 25 (UPI) -- The Lutz, Fla., owners of a small dog said their pet was able to escape the teeth of an alligator with no broken bones or internal bleeding.

Mike and Cathy Piendel said Gizmo, their 7-pound Maltese-toy poodle mix, suffered puncture wounds on his ear and back leg from his encounter with the gator, but a veterinarian told them the pooch is expected to make a full recovery, TBO.com reported Tuesday.

The Piendels said they heard Gizmo yelping in a panicked fashion Sunday and they spotted him with his ear in the clutches of the alligator, which was attempting to pull the small dog under the water. The dog briefly escaped, but the reptile managed to take hold of one of his thighs before Cathy Piendel scared the predator off with a scream.

"Not one broken bone; no internal bleeding," Cathy Piendel said. "His white blood cell count is 10 times the normal level, but that's because of the infection" from the bite.

Man, 93, charged in prostitution sting

BRADENTON, Fla., March 25 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Manatee County, Fla., accuse a 93-year-old man of attempting to pay an undercover officer disguised as a prostitute for sex during a sting.

Frank Milio, 93, allegedly offered the undercover police officer $20 for sex during the November operation, the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune reported Tuesday. Prosecutors said the suspect will likely face trial in April.

Milio has denied the charges but admitted to flirting with the officer.

"I haven't had that in years," he said. "Ninety-three is kind of old."

The prosecutors said a second 93-year-old man who spoke to the undercover officer during the prostitution sting will not face charges. They said Carlos Underhill told the woman he was planning to return in a few hours with $30 to exchange for sexual favors. However, the prosecutors said they cannot prosecute the man because they have no way of proving that he really intended to return.

"All I was going to do was talk," Underhill said Monday. "It wasn't for sex. I am 93, you know."