The Lucknow Sentinel, 1997-05-14, Page 3South Bruce Lakeshore
Restructuring ,committee disbands
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 14, 1991 Page 3
by Bev Fry
First there • were eight,
then seven, six and now
none, •
'Wednesday night. "the
South- , Bruce Lakeshore
Communities
Restructuring committee
disbanded. °
The meeting, . which
began at* 7-,30
adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
after Saugeen ` Township .
was a no-show, and there
was no quorum.
The seven Lakeshore
municipalities of
Southampton,. Port Elgin,
Saugeen Township, Bruce.
Township; Tiverton,
'Kincardine Township, and
the town of Kincardine
have been, meeting over
the past year to discuss
amalgamation options.
The seven municipali-
ties expected •Huron
Township to join, although
Huron . Township . said . all
'along it was not interested
and 'never .attended any of
the meetings.
.Saugeen Township
chose not to attend
Wednesday night's meet-
ing after it asked .the
province to appoint a corn-
missioner to examine
restructuring in the eight
municipalities. The motion
was passed at the town-
ship's April 21 meeting.
Saugeen
recently.
backed out of
talks with .!
Port Elgin
a n. d
Southampton
because it
felt theurban,
mt�nicipa1i
ties will
Saugeen 'asking for a corn-
Inissioner: disturbing, in
light of what has happened
in Kent County : and
Chatham,
A provincially appoint-
ed commissioner recently
redu.c'ed
Kent County
municipali-
ties, and.
Chatham
into one
municipali
ty. The
mayor " of
Chatham`
described'
the shock .and outrage .of
the people , at ;the Ontario
Small Urban.
'Municipalities (OSUM)
conference • last week.
Represi,ntatives • from -
Kincardine, Port Elgin,.
Southampton . and Bruce
Township • attended •the
conference.
"What ,happened in'
Kent is disturbing.. It was a
travesty of justice and it
was 'wrong," VanBastelaar
said.. .
He said with that amal-
gaination,all the reserves
drown out the rural munic-
ipalities.
Kincardine, Huron
Township and Kincardine..
Township are in the midst
of amalgamation discus-
sions, ., and Tiverton and
Bruce. Township will be
amalgamated Jan. 1.
After Wednesday -
'night's. meeting adjourned,.
representatives from the'.'
six municipalities dig- '
cussed' amalgamation for
about an' hour.
John VanBastelaar, Port
Elgin mayor, said he found
Hosp�.�al signs agreement
with regional �cance� centre
by Margaret Stapleton
- In what is being:termed' "a corner -
Stone event,".Wingham and District
Hospital last Week sighed an affiliation.
agreement with the 'London Regional.,
Cancer Centre (LRCC) to provide cancer
treatment locally.
Dr. Les Levine, chief executive:offi-
Ger of the .LRCC, described the affilia-
tion as a' cornerstone :event is the:
Wingharn-London signing is the -first'
since the province announcedchanges to
.the way cancer services are provided in
Ontario.,
":Thosechangesbegan in comniuni-
ties like this," said Levine, who noted
that Wingham and London have enjoyed
linkages . over :.several 'decades..
Oncologists (cancer specialists) .visit : the
,monthly cancer clinics held at Winghain
hospital, thus eliminating' the ,need for.
patients: to 'make the trip to London for
follow-up assessment.. • ,
"But we found it's not enough to have
follow-up clinics,"`. Levine continued.
''Patients :wanted. more: They wanted
acceis t� treatmentin: their own Commu-
nities." Over the past several years; rep-
resentatives of the. LRCC had visited
hospitals .all over Southwestern Ontario
with the result being .an overhaul : in the'
way service is provided. ,
"This (agreement) is a tribute to the
leadership and 'foresight of (WDH
Executive Director) Lloyd Koch, 'the
staff andboard arid .their ;willingness to
meet the real needs 'and concerns' of can:
cer patients.'`
Four yearsago, a Cancer Services,
Advisory Committee was set up at
Wingham hospital to .review:the services
provided; identify gaps in services, ,Cre- -
ate a plan to, deliver more services on
site to reduce the need to travel to
London, and increase the quality of ser-
vice provided locally. +.
An his remarks, : Koch noted, ".This
affiliation assures patiehts in our greater
service.'area of Huron and :South Bruce
that they will receive the. same treatment
at Wingham. and District Hospital using.
the same protocols as they would if they.
went to the LRCC, .
This keeps. treatment more.iocal with-`
out loss in quality.".
:.:Following the signing ceremony, a
new room devoted,`to -':providing.
: