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The Citizen, 1998-01-28, Page 20No payments 41 Lin LI! *.A.MzVamwa..mt:MUSENk Terms and Conditions • Deferred payments available to Union Gas residential customers on approved credit financed through Union Gas and Participating Member Union Gas Fireplace Dealers. All other offers not applicable. Offer valid from Jan. 19 to Mar. 7, '98. There are no set-up fees or early payment penalties for financing. © Union Gas Limited 1998. 'D' PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1998. CPH group working to attract physicians Clinton has a shortage of doctors, but a group of volunteers is attempting to remedy the situation, and they are seeking the help of the public. Janice Cosgrove, site administrator for Clinton Public Hospital (CPH) and a member of the physician recruitment committee noted that the committee is working towards attracting doctors because, "the Clinton community is in need of an additional family physician." The purpose of the committee she said, is to prepare an application for the Ministry of Health in an effort to have Clinton designated an underserviced area for family physicians. "If the application is successful, it means we increase our chances for recruiting physicians," she said. "It gives us access to ministry programs." Among the programs that would be available to Clinton if it received an underserviced designation would be a recruitment tour, which would give the town access to medical schools and a chance to approach graduates. The designation would also give the An initial attempt to forge links between Huron County's primary food producers, small processors and retailers and restaurants drew a capacity audience at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs boardroom in Clin- ton, Jan. 21. The group, representing everyone from a producer of raspberry leaf tea to the executive chef of the Benmiller Inn, had a chance to introduce themselves to each other, hear a panel discussing formation of alliances, and to meet in round table groups to see if there were needs that could be met by working together. • The panel included Judie Glen of Glen Farms, a specialty food pro- cessing company near Ethel; Shirley Hazlitt, who is working with the Maple Seal of Quality pro- gram with the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers and Murray Switzer of the Kirkton-Woodham Farmers Buying Group. Moderator was Reg Cressman, general manager of Bingeman Park at Kitchener and a member of the Canadian Business network Coalition. Glen said her experience with alliances ranges from simple one- to-one co-operation with other small businesses to their mutual advantage, to working with organi- zations like the Blyth Festival and Maitland Valley Conservation Authority on fundraising and pro- Continued from page 15 representative, Feb. 3. Brian Kellington of Belgrave asked council if there were any objections to a truck parking area on the lots between Hwy. 4 and John Street, north of Parker Drive. Kellington said no livestock would be hauled, just dump trucks. After discussions with the county and Chief Building Official Paul Josling, and further clarification from Kellington, council will con- sider the matter. Councillor Edna McLellan and Reeve Bert Elliott will attend the Good Roads and Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) financial incentives to come and work in the community. The ministry has provided the recruitment committee with a list of information that should be gathered for the application, and among this information will be a survey of citizens in the hospital's catchment area. The survey, Cosgrove said, will ask citizens whether they have a family physician in Clinton, and whether they are in need of a family physician. Citizens are being asked to watch for the survey, which will be published in local publications, Feb. 7 and 11. They will also be available at the Clinton Town Hall, and the municipal offices in Bayfield and Blyth. Cosgrove noted that the town has to demonstrate there is a need for family physicians in the area, and thus public input will be necessary. "It's important to have that input," said Marg Makins, chair of the hospital's board, and a member of the recruitment committee, and therefore the committee hopes the public will takt tne time to fill out the survey, and drop it off at the Clinton Town Hall. "The big thing is, we want people motion projects. She stressed it was important to enter such arrange- ments not just thinking about what you could get out of them. Hazlitt emphasized it was impor- tant to have goals clearly stated when getting into an alliance such as the one the maple syrup produc- ers were involved in. And, she said, "in an alliance everyone has to win." Switzer said his group began in 1916 at the time many other farm- ers' buying groups were organized, but it is one of the few to survive (many became full co-operatives). Last year it did $3 million in busi- ness with 290 farmers as members, buying farm inputs such as fertiliz- er from 18 different suppliers. It has no buildings -and only one employee. If there are profits at the end of the year members get divi- dends. Discussion groups were held on such topics as expanding markets and distribution. The organizers of the meeting, Huron Business Development Cor- poration and Women and Rural Economic Development (WRED), hope that the food producers and users in Huron will build alliances to assist them in increasing the value of food production in the county. WRED will provide facili- tators to try to help the alliance grow. Anyone interest can contact WRED at 273-5017. conventions. The $584.13 membership• fee for AMO was approved for payment. The township will tender with Huron County for the paving of Centre Sideroad 15-16, Conc. 4 as well as spot paving in Conc. 1, sub- ject to the availability of funds. With only four municipalities responding to the exotic animals resolution, council filed it. Council concurred with the reso- lution from Colborne Twp. which sought support from the provincial government for further study into e-coli contamination of the shore- line. to watch for the survey. Please fill it out," Makins stated. Cosgrove also urged local residents to get a copy of the survey and fill it out. "The more response we receive, the stronger our application will be." Local doctors are behind the application and the efforts to recruit new family physicians. Peggy Menzies, vice-chair of the hospital board, and a recruitment committee member, stated, "The doctors are concerned their practices are unable to take in new patients. They are behind this." "They certainly are in support of this," Cosgrove added. "They know that they can't meet the needs of the community, and they want help in the community ... to not only have additional office practices, but to give additional support in emergency as well." According to figures provided by the ministry of health, Clinton's doctors are exceeding their responsibilities. In a letter to Cosgrove regarding the underserviced designation from the ministry, it was stated, "The Council of Faculties of Medicine (COFM) recommends that communities have a physician-to- population ration of 1:1380. Communities experiencing a severe shortage of physicians are not likely to have enough physicians to satisfy this criteria." Thus, while Clinton doctors should have patient caseloads of up to 1,380 patients, Cosgrove noted, "The current family physician caseload (for Clinton) varies from 1,500 to 2,200 patients per doctor." The administrator added that the doctors also have hospital work, on top of managing their patient caseloads. Menzies noted that the community has seen the retirement of two doctors within the last year, and Cosgrove said that the committee is aware that people have to travel outside the community to see a physician. Apart from proving the need for more doctors for Clinton, the committee must also demonstrate in their application that efforts have been made in the past to attract doctors. "We've been actively doing this since 1996," Cosgrove said, adding that the methods used to find doctors have included advertising, the making of a video, making presentations to medical students, going to job fairs, and working with a medical headhunter. "It is not as if we haven't done anything to date," she said. "This is just another part of the ongoing struggle." Anyone with questions or concerns regarding the application, or the public survey, is invited to contact members of the recruitment committee. On the committee with Cosgrove, Makins and Menzies are Phil MacMillan, Janet Cameron, Gerry Hiltz, David Sparling, Marlene Thornton and Donna Wood. town the opportunity to take part in By David Emslie an incentives program, whereby Clinton News-Record Staff physicians could be offered Large crowd turns out for FOODLINKS Morrispays membership fee to AMO