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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2004-11-03, Page 22 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Nov. 3, 2004 WHYTE BROS. FARMS LTD. is ready to receive your 2004 CORN and SOYBEAN CROP CUSTOM COMBINING and TRUCKING SERVICES AVAILABLE Mill 519-527-1143 RR #2 PHONE Residence 519-527-0349 Seaforth P Want FRE oil chang Join the TMP Oil Change Club! Buy 3 oil changes and you'll get.the 4th oil change Free! With each service Oil Change Club Members also receive... FREE 25 Point Inspection FREE Exterior Wash FREE Interior Vacuum w 5-7 dffIn OIL CHANGE CLUB MEMBERS OIL CHANGE $2495* Includes chassis lube, oil replacement with up to 5 litres of Quaker State 10W30 premium motor oil, oil filter replacement. 'For most domestic cars and light trucks (excludes diesel engines) LIMITED TIME OFFER • r AUTOMOTIVE SALES a SERVICE • 0 Main Street S. Seaforth 527-2291 �' News Local group researching Seaforth citizen's views about town hospital From Page 1 going to die, he said. The three passed out questionnaires that asked the group to rate how important they thought various services offered at Seaforth Community Hospital were and then asked five open-ended questions that allowed participants to discuss how important SCH is to the community. BIA member Brenda Forbes, a local flower shop owner, said she thought SCH is a wonderful facility that, provides great care but added that it needed more services. Right now, we can t attract doctors because we don t have enough services. I ve had to send bouquets welcoming doctors to town but some of them have left already, she said. When asked what they thought the implications of reducing services at SCH will do to the community, Liz Cardno said the results would hurt the downtown. My business has already experienced a decrease because of the closure of the high school and the implication of the hospital closing would be devastating, she said. The hospital payroll is integral to the health of the community, added Bob Fisher. Realtor Sandra Dale said anyone ldbking at local real estate, especially elderly people, want to know whether the town has a good hospital. Right now we don t know what to tell people, she said. Rodney suggested to Dale that she tell clients that the layout of SCH allows the hospital to offer the same services with fewer staff and that geographically, Seaforth is in the centre of the Huron -Perth area and necessary to stabilize patients before they re sent to a larger hospital, Jim McNichol said Seaforth will lose more business if more patients have to go out of town for medical services. When people go out of town to visit patients and loved ones, they 11 fill up with gas, shop and eat at McDonald s, he said. Cardno expressed her disappointment that SCH was not part of a recent hospital fundraising campaign on CKNX and Spittal expressed her dismay with the way the Alliance chose to present its cost-cutting alternatives to the community. The first meeting they held on Monday was the biggest snow job, said Spittal. I just fear that s it s all cut and dried like the high school, said Cardno. Rodney, Spittal and Larone will be meeting with a number of various focus groups in different sectors of the community, such as manufacturers, sports groups, parents and recreation groups, during the rest of this week. I don t know if the politicians are taking any leadership here - I ve been trying to find out what the municipality is doing for 10 days now, said Larone. And, while the BIA was discussing its reaction to the focus group questions in town hall Monday night, Huron East council was holding a closed meeting about the hospital in the room next door. Council was also expected to meet with a delegation from Seaforth Community Hospital in a closed meeting Tuesday night during its regular meeting. Quoted 'The policies of the Alliance were aleady set but we have to look at what's most important to our community,' -- Dr. Ken Rodney, of Seaforth OPSEU planning campaign against staff cuts at Alliance hospitals By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor A letter -writing campaign and an information picket from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9 are two ways that the Ontario Public Service Union, Local 141 is fighting proposed staff cuts at the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance s four hospitals. While more than 160 allied health professionals at the Alliance represented by OPSEU are negotiating a new contract with the province, the Alliance s balanced budget proposal is The Earlyblyd gets great savings at our 4th annual HEM Saturday, November 6 Save on Gift Baskets, Hair Care, Skin Care, Makeup and More! Looking Glass 4 Math St., Seaforth ;1 5271783 4 • suggesting the lay-off of 21.2 fulltime allied health professionals - such as physiotherapists, lab technologists and occupational therapists. Stratford has the majority of those positions since the main thrust of the cuts is in the outpatient services and the big hit will be the physio and occupational therapy departments, says Local 141 president Boris Prus. It has not yet been released how each hospital site will be affected by the layoffs. The proposed layoffs by the Alliance also include close to 40 nurses, both registered and registered practical nurses, and Prus says an information picket by the Canadian Union•of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents some local nurses, will be held at the same time. Alliance nurses are also represented by thc Ontario Nurses Association (ONA). Prus says OPSEU has no quarrel with the Alliance but is protesting the province s out -of -control cost-cuttting exercises. Our main thrust is to make the public aware that all out-patient services are in danger of being cut and that the province has not figured out where they 11 be provided and who s going to pay for them, he says. Prus says the cuts are an indirect way of privatizing medical services in Ontario since stripping services from hospitals will force patients to pay for them at private clinics. He says he agrees with the Alliance s move to make savings through greater efficiencies but agrees that $7 million is too Targe a number to save through efficiences. The government is playing hardball here and I don t believe it s as much as crisis as they re painting it. My opinion is that health care should be the biggest part of the provincial government since everybody uses it, he says. While shortages of doctors and nurses is well-known by the public, Prus says there are also shortages in many other health care professions, such as physiotherapists and lab technicians. We know our hospital professionals are in demand across Canada and around the world, Prus says in a press release. Members in many hospitals are overworked due to staff shortages and face extreme pressure to work extended shifts, overtime or on-call hours. This can only worsen as a result of these layoffs, he says. Egmondville char ed g after local OPP drug raid 47 -year-old The man Huron East man Huron OPP fled the home charged with and ran to a near by bush area. After a search, officers found the man and charged him. Police seeking men who damaged car in Seaforth Huron OPP are looking for two men after a car received more than $1,000 in damages while parked in a Goderich Street parking lot in Seaforth on Oct. 23 at 11:45 p.m. The two men were seen getting out of a white Fiat and kicking and hitting a red 1992 Volkswagen Jetta. Anyone with related information is asked to call the Huron OPP or Crime Stoppers. was possession of cocaine and marijuana after a drug warrant was executed at his Egmondville home last Tuesday. Oct. 26. Huron OPP assisted by the Drug Enforcement Section of the Ontario Provincial Police, Emergency Response Team and Canine also executed a drug warrants at Heritage Estates thc same day. In Egmondville, officers found a small amount of cannabis marihuana and crack cocaine. The Huron East man is scheduled to attend court in Goderich on Dec. 20. The investigation continues for the second warrant at a trailer at Heritage Estates and no further information is available. SECOND CHANCE CONSIGNMENTS Nam 4 slsr d Ohteset (bat - r Odna ter.) IMUOE INVENTORY of elation a a9 sixes wieder ado, mow arils SE, Sow pawls, bolts $3, Mips, weft, skirt., Oak SIM ...b, IdM d.9u., .Iseut $2. TUG. to Fri. 10-4 Sat. 10-2 CASK on Durr Huron East man charged with assault A 24-ycar-old Huron East man was charged with two counts of assault on Oct. 25 after Huron OPP responded to a domestic call at Heritage Estates Trailer Park on Hensall Road. An 18 -year-old pregnant woman told police she had been shoved to the floor and had her hair pulled when she attempted to leave a relationship with the man who did not want her to leave. She also said she had been assaulted by him during the past few months. Alliance submits balanced budget proposal to province From Pogo He says the Alliance's community and staff consultation process, which included four community open houses, was an essential part of developing the budget plan. "Approximately 900 people attended the open houses and provided us with their comments and suggestions. All written comments from the community are included in the plan sent to the government." In the budget submission the Alliance board of directors has included a motion that notes although program and service reductions have been proposed in order to meet the government s requirement to submit a balanced budget, the board does not support program cuts that negatively affect the communities served and will look forward to collaborative discussions with the ministry to ensure these services remain available in our community. The Alliance was formed in July 2003. 1