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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2004-09-08, Page 1PRINTER INK CARTRIDGES rennv aeMcu PETE MARTENE PETE'S PAPER CLIP 51 Main St., Seafort# 527-1681 a Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 9.25 includes GST In brief Recruitment top priority at Seaforth Hospital since Rodney's retirement By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor Recruitment is the top priority at Seaforth Community Hospital over the next year since the retirement of Dr. Ken Rodney has created a "fairly onerous" load on the five remaining family doctors, Dr. Shawn Edwards told the Huron - Perth Healthcare Alliance board meeting last Thursday in Seaforth. "We're close to critical mass now to maintain our call services," he told the board. Seaforth needs five doctors on call to cover services at local nursing homes, in -patients at the hospital, emergency and the family health group, a new 24-hour access to local physicians. • "You can see the problem with only five doctors. No one gets a day off," he said. Edwards told the Alliance board that Seaforth has some prospective new recruits. "But, I don't know if they're hot (prospects)," he said. "It's extremely difficult to recruit these days. So many other opportunities are available today that it's a hard sell," he said. Vanastra man found • growing $i8,000 of pot in yard A 27 -year-old Vanastra man has been charged with the production of a Schedule II drug after $18,000 worth of marijuana was found growing in his yard on Sept. 3. Huron OPP were contacted by a local citizen who suspected marijuana was growing nearby. When police knocked on the door, the Vanastra man showed officers 18 six-foot plants growing next to his garage on Winnipeg Street and helped them cut the plants down. The man is scheduled to attend court in Goderich on Oct. 18. Inside... Staffa artist part of London display... pogo 10 Dublin farmer growing open - pollinated corn... P09* 12 $7 million dark cloud hanging over Huron Perth Alliance By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor The next six months to a year will be "the most tumultuous" for the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance as it looks for savings of $7 million to meet its $83 million budget, chief executive officer Andrew William told Alliance board members in Seaforth on Thursday. "As I was writing this report, I felt more and more like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh because there's a dark cloud over our heads," he said. Williams .said the Alliance will have to start preparing a "recovery plan" after they hear from the Ministry of Health next week and respond with a "very detailed review of all our services" within 30-45 days. "The last thing we want to do is cut services but our revenue opportunities are limited. Can we deliver services differently, how well are we utilizing beds and can we consolidate programs?" "The government is expecting us to balance our budget by 2005/06 and that's going to be extremely challenging to accomplish, maybe impossible without cutting services," he said. Williams warned that the Alliance will have to sign an interim accountability agreement with the province, agreeing to meet certain financial targets. "If we don't, the government has the right to come in and make the changes for us. That's our impetus to go ahead and meet our own challenges. I think we want to have a choice," he said. Williams said community backlash is expected to the changes and cuts necessary to meet the budget. "The idea that's getting the most backlash right now is moving beds but we have to at least look at it. When it comes down to it, we'll have to make the best of a bunch of bad decisions," he told the board. The Alliance has been considering moving 33 continuing care and rehabilitation beds from Stratford to hospitals in Seaforth and St. Marys. Williams said the Alliance Quoted The government is expecting us to balance our budget by 2005/06 and that's going to be extremely challenging to accomplish, maybe impossible without cutting services,'-- Allkxnco CEO Andrew WUans • S•• OPEN, Pogo 2 Susan Hundertmork photo Back to school New vice-principal Kerry Carlyle, of Seaforth Public School, is on crossing duty Tuesday morning as Matt Kamerman walks his bike across Chalk Street for the first day of the new school year. Moving beds from Stratford to Seaforth concerns doctors By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor Stratford's family doctors arc concerned about thc possible move of 33 continuing care and rehabilitation beds from Stratford General Hospital to Seaforth and St. Marys, Stratford site chief Dr. Laurel Moore told the Huron -Perth Healthcare Alliance hoard on Thursday in Seaforth. "There's a lot of talk. Family doctors arc most affected and they're very concerned about continuity of care issues. They're afraid they'll end up with longer stays and readmission problems," she said. Dr. Moore added that while she's been trying to champion the cause of continuing a family doctor's role in the hospital. she said thc possible move of Stratford keds would not help her cause. "Following patients in the hospital is a huge job with very little remuneration because there's no on-call stipend to look Sea ALLIANCE, Pogo 5 Seaforth Legion celebrates 7th anniversary By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor As the Seaforth Legion Branch 156 looks back on its 75th anniversary this year, veteran Frank Phillips has happy memories about building the Legion's Main Street home in 1959. "Those were the good days," he says. "It used to be an old dump that had three billboards on it. We had to tear down the signs to build the Legion and there was a horse barn right behind it," he says. . Branch 156 began as the British Service Empire League in 1929, first meeting in a room at the Seaforth post office and then, as veterans began returning home from the Second World War, seeking larger accommodations at Cardno's Hall and at the Seaforth arena. Former Legion president Mel Melanson remembers joining the Seaforth Legion when members still met in the upstairs hall of the Seaforth arena. "i remember it was a very small room in the arenal with a TV set. We met there Saturday nights to watch Boxing and used to make bets on the guy with the white pants versus the guy with the black pants," he says. But, when it was decided that more rodm was needed for the Legion members and a new building was the Seaforth legion president Jim Macleod the current Legion building. answer, Melanson says the membership and community members raised money and volunteered their labour. Susan Hundertmork photo holds a picture of the construction of "1 was a labourer and I think my wrist still hurts from hammering nails. i was on wheelbarrow duty for a long time too," says Melanson. Looking at a picture of the walls going up at the Legion building, Phillips shakes his head that very few of the volunteers are still alive. "Of the 16 in that picture digging that day, only four are left," he says. The Seaforth area had 142 men and women go to the First World War, 40 of which never returned! And, in the Second World War, 350 Seaforth-area men and women went to war, with 20 never coming home. "That's a lot out of a town of 2,000," he says. While the Seaforth Legion began to "assume responsibility for all matters Connected to the welfare of veterans and with the perpetuating of the meu}pry of those veterans who had pat the supreme sacrifice," current president Jim MacLeod says the Legion has had to adapt to the dwindling number of veterans. "I don't know where the Legion is going to be in 10 years because there won't be very many veterans left. But, we have to stay viable and serve the community," he says. The Seaforth Legion donates $60,000 to $70,000 annually to various community groups and the Seaforth Legion's Ladies' Auxiliary donates $20,000-$25,000 each year. Recipients of donations from the Seaforth Legion over the years include local sports teams such as the Seo LOCAL„ Page 2