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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2011-12-15, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011. PAGE 17. WINGHAM & DISTRICT HOSPITAL HIGHLIGHTS “Excellence in Rural Health Care” Phone: 357-3210 Fax: 357-2931 Website: www.lwha.ca VISITING HOURS Social and family contact is an important aspect of patient recovery and well-being. The Listowel Wingham Hospitals Alliance will be extending visiting hours beyond the current 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm '&%$#"!!$ $"!!$$$$$&%'$ $&$&'$ '&$' &$'&%$ %&$'$ $ allow for the expanded hours. Exceptions will always be made for pediatrics, palliative patients, immediate family members of newborns and special circumstances. Further information will be provided to the community once the effective date for this change is known. HEALTHKICK HURON – HUMAN RESOURCE STUDY HealthKick Huron was originally established in 2005 to encourage health care professionals to live and work in rural Ontario. The organization has studied the health care human resource challenges in Huron and Perth and recently released its report. While the study’s recommendations do not $ $$ '&$$ '&$'%$ $ $$ $$$&' &$&$ the report that is noteworthy. For example, within Huron and Perth there are 447 Registered Nurses between the ages of 50 and 64 and only 189 Registered Nurses between the ages of 25 '&%$$ $ & $'&%$ & &$$ %$&$$ $'$&'& $$$$'$ well as many other health care organizations in Huron Perth for the next several years. HEALTH CARE UNDERGOING OPTIMIZATION London Health Sciences has initiated a ‘clinical transformation’ project titled “HUGO” that will & '$ '$'$&'& $' $&$ $$ $ $&'$'&$' $&%- ing Computerized Provider Order Entry and computerized clinical decision support. We look for- ward to working with LHSC in advancing our Electronic Health Record to ensure safe, quality care for our patients. NORTH HURON FAMILY HEALTH TEAM LAB HOLIDAYS The North Huron Family Health Team Lab in the Clinic will be closed for the holidays on December 16th, 26th, 27th, 30th and January 2nd. This year the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board (HPCDSB) is taking its Christmas campaign digital. The board’s “Giving in the Light of Christ” Advent campaign is using social media and traditional radio spots as it invites people of all backgrounds to support the less fortunate this holiday season. While the HPCDSB has previously run charitable campaigns in the four-week Advent period leading up to Christmas, this is the first year that the board is asking the larger community for help as well. “We want the community to know what we’re doing and we want the community to support us as we do it,” said HPCDSB director of education Martha Dutrizac. In reaching out, the HPCDSB is going high-tech, running the campaign through a “Giving in the Light of Christ” website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. At the campaign’s website, http://huronperth.blueprintagencies. ca/, visitors can find drop-off locations for HPCDSB schools which are accepting food, gift cards, toys, clothes and coats for those in need. Dutrizac added that well-wishers don’t need to donate something to visit the schools. The website also features several stories on how HPCDSB schools are contributing to the campaign, including food drives, toy drives, “adopting” local needy families through St. Vincent de Paul and painting festive images and words on downtown windows in Seaforth. The campaign efforts are also being chronicled through e-mail blasts and on Facebook, where the page “Huron Perth Catholic District School Board Christmas Campaign” has been set up to share photos and information. Daily updates on different events and success stories, such as St. James Catholic School in Seaforth raising $800 for Goderich tornado relief, are also being broadcast on Twitter, where the board tweets as @HPCDSB. Dutrizac said the new use of social media platforms isn’t just a way to share the current campaign, but will be a learning experience as well. “This is also an opportunity to see what engagement is out there,” she said, adding that the HPCDSB social media presence will continue after the holidays.“We haven’t engaged like this before,” she said. Dutrizac said that although these digital methods are new, the focus on communication between schools, parishes, students and families has always been the same, whether it takes place at schools, through newsletters or on Facebook. “It’s another tool,” she said, adding that she hopes staff, students and parents will provide feedback on how the board is doing. The radio spots, currently being broadcast on AM 920 CKNX, CJCS 1240 Radio and FM 107.7 Stratford, feature Dutrizac and St. Aloysius Catholic School Principal Dave Cassone talking about the campaign. Board’s Christmascampaign is digital By Rita Marshall Special to The Citizen Take a look All kinds of items were on display on Saturday at Huronlea Home for the Aged’s annual holiday penny sale. These ladies took a look at a blanket that was one of the sale’s dozens of items. (Vicky Bremner photo) Tom Jasper, chair of the Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Fund is pleased to announce “our fundraising goal of $3.5 million has been surpassed. As of Dec. 8, donations have exceeded $3.7 million. With the provincial funding of up to 2:1, our $3.5 million could generate over $10 million to pay up to 90 per cent of the eligible claims.” “The real winner is the reputation of the Goderich Community. Donations from outside the municipalities impacted by the tornado accounted for over 65 per cent of the total amount donated. Donations came from nine of Canada’s 10 provinces. Donations from the United States totalled $55,000, online donations exceeded $40,000 and the Huron County household mailer generated over $163,000. It is extremely gratifying to see the huge number of people and organizations who care about our community and donate to such a worthwhile cause as tornado relief,” Jasper says. While Dec. 1 was the official close to the fundraising drive, the committee will still accept donations. Jasper said, “that there are a number of corporations and foundations that are still considering donating to the Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Fund and we will be pleased to accept their donations.” Duncan Jewell, Chair of the Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Committee said, “it will be some time before the committee knows the total amount of money required to pay up to 90 per cent of the eligible claims not covered by insurance as many claimants do not have their information to file with their application. Further, the committee is waiting for a response to a letter to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing regarding the province’s financial commitment to the program.” As of the Nov. 25 deadline, 372 applications were received. The Goderich and Area Disaster Relief Committee will begin reviewing the applications in the near future. Tom Jasper said, “many, many thanks go to the volunteers led by community co-chairs Ken Dunn and Matt Hoy and Irene Blight and Anne Marie Patrick who worked tirelessly preparing the fundraising materials. Without the over 25 volunteer canvassers who conducted the personal and business canvass and the 40 volunteers who stuffed over 32,000 envelopes, the fundraising campaign conducted over 12 weeks would never have been so successful.” Relief fund passes $3.5 million A site plan agreement was approved by Huron East Council on Dec. 6, a major step in bringing a Tim Hortons restaurant to Seaforth. While there were some questions about the site plan and the logic behind having one entrance/exit rather than two separate openings, the site plan was approved by council. The site plan for the properties of 54, 58 and 62 Goderich Street in Seaforth, as councillors commented, appeared to be nearly identical to Tim Hortons locations in Mitchell and Clinton. Representatives Phil Lavalle and Dan Domink said the restaurant would have room for 42 seated patrons and would be fully accessible. In addition to the restaurant’s seating capacity, there would be double stacking drive-through lanes, which should alleviate traffic and eliminate a line-up of cars running along Goderich Street at busier times. While a traditional drive-through lane can accommodate approximately 13 cars, a double stacking lane, they explained, should nearly double that capacity, accommodating approxi- mately 23 cars, keeping them off the road. “We’re excited to get going on this,” Lavalle said. Have We Got Your Number? The Citizen is now planning its 2012-2013 Telephone Book. Is your number correct in the recently delivered Bell Canada phone book? Do you have a new listing since that book was compiled? If so, please let us know so we can make our phone book as complete and useful as possible. Call 519-523-4792. WANT TO ADD YOUR CELL PHONE LISTING? If you would like your cell number listed in our listings we can add it if you give us the information and pay a $5 service fee in advance at either our Blyth or Brussels offices. Huron East approves Tim Hortons’ site plan agreement By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Read Rhea Hamilton Seeger’s Gardening column on the Huron Home and Garden Guide section of our website www.northhuron.on.ca