HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-03-22, Page 4Pogo 4 March 22, 2006 • The Huron Expositor
Opinion
Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK IWO
ospitals and long -terra -care facilities in Perth
and Huron counties are facing a dilemma now that
local ambulance services have decided to cut back
sharply on non -emergency trips outside their bor-
ders.
Officials announced last week that each county
will allow just one ambulance at a time outside its
jurisdiction on non -emergency calls.
It's a move that makes sense as ambulance . ser-
vices strive to reduce their response times in emer-
gencies. •
But the new policy will mean patients and their
families will have to make other arrangements to
get to hospitals in other communities for tests or
treatments. They will probably have to pay at least
part of the cost for alternative transportation.
Though it's bound to be a burden for some, the
price is worth paying if it means lives will be saved
by the prompt arrival of an ambulance. Anyone
who's ever had a loved one stricken by a heart
attack or stroke or critically injured in an accident
can apjireciate the need for immediate medical
attention.
Some of the problems faced by ambulance ser-
vices were highlighted in December when Ontario
Auditor General Jim McCarter criticized ambu-
lance services for tardy responses.
When ambulances are sent outside their borders
on non -emergency calls, they're delayed — some-
times for hours -- waiting for a bed to become
available for the patient. And the number of hospi-
tal transfers has been steadily increasing.
The problem is clear, and the response by. Perth
and Huron counties is a move in the right direction.
But, as always, the problem is money. Currently,
there's no cost to hospitals to send patients to out-
of-town hospitals, but that will change if they have
to start paying private contractors to shuttle
patients.
If the cost is passed on to patients or their fami-
lies, there will naturally be some who can't afford to
pay. Will they have to forgo treatment?
In Canada, where publicly funded universal
health care is held sacred, that obviously can't be
allowed.
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Looking for something to
fix during March Break
March Break: is mis-
named, really.
I mean, I got through
the week without break-
ing much of anything.
But, I did spend a lot of
time imagining, planning,
brooding over what I
could fix.
During this time of year,
esp6cially, during a' year {.
like this, when the. =snow melts away to
reveal, well, all the work that hes beneath,
one's mind can't help but move from the
sticks and branches that need bundling to the
garden that needs digging to the outdoor fur-
niture that needs painting.
A week's holidays with nowhere to go but
enough time to actually stop and look around
rather than running the usual mad dash
through the week inevitably has me planning
the thing I took the week off to avoid - more
work.
Instead of slowing down and relaxing the
way I ought, the lengthening sunny days and
the budding branches had me motivated to
improve something.
With a borrowed tae bo video, I started out
improving me, walking bricking in place and
punching and jabbing at the air around me.
But, improving me's a long term project - I
wanted change I could see.
Of course,Ispent-some time vacuuming,
dusting, cleaning and whatnot but any order
created soon dissolves into disorder and I
wanted a more substantial and lasting
PI- Susan
p undertmark
T L,
change.
My husband knows it's
best to avoid me when this
sort of mood overtakes me
because he knows when I
say something like, "when
are we ever going to tear
down the panelling in the
living room and replace it
with drywall," it's not real-
ly "we" I'm talking about.
He is the handy one afterall.
Me, I'm the dreamer, the planner, the
"what-if-er."
Needless to say, every room in my house got
a makeover last week. But, with a lack of
money and a willing work crew, it's still all up
here in my head - an as yet dormant seed
waiting for the right conditions to sprout.
So, to prevent myself from imploding from
all these plans. and schemes, Itook myself out
for a walk in the woods where the air was
also ripe with new growth.
Snow was melting and the resulting water
was carving new pathways downhill to the
racing stream below. Birds were singing their
r fool heads off. But still, among all this activi-
ty, there was peace.
Finally, under the trees and in the cool,
silent air, I could stop my mind from endless-
ly planning and running and just let myself
breathe. Here was the March fix I'd been
looking for.
Ron & have
The home team is down 3-0,4
in the bottom of the 9th with
the bases loadedi
DAVE steps up to bafl He's
the team's last chancel
..AND HE CONNECTS!
IT -15 A HOME RUN!
by David Lacey
DAVE IS THE HERO!
HE WINS THE BIG
GAME!
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