HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2006-10-04, Page 6Page 6 October 4, 2006 • The Huron Expositor
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Canada
News
Doctors look for ways to better
cover emergency departrnent
From Page 1
With only four doctors
working at the Seaforth hos-
pital, Rooyakkers says it's
difficult to get time off when •
a doctor is not expected to
hang around the area in case
the first on-call doctor needs
extra help.
An agreement that Clinton
and Seaforth doctors are con-
sidering could give both hos-
pitals a larger pool of doctors
to 'share the on-call hours.
"We are looking to solve the
problem by scheduling better
and ideally getting some
more doctors in the area," he
says.
While neither Seaforth or
Clinton have had to consider
closing the emergency
departments on the weekend
as St. Marys Memorial
Hospital has, Rooyakkers
says the proposed solution to
have one "second on-call"
doctor for both sites is . "still
very tight."
"We still wouldn't have
much to fall back on if some-
one gets sick," he says.
Alliance member St. Marys
Memorial Hospital had to
close for 24 hours once in
July but Health Minister
George Smitherman stepped
in to help find doctors from
the area to cover the emer-
gency department's weekend
calls.
Rooyakkers says he would
like to see the province
launch a campaign educating
the public about how much.,
more tax money is spent on
every trip to emergency, com-
pared to a regular doctors'
appointment.
"There is a difference of
hundreds of dollars per visit,"
he says.
He adds that too few family
doctors are alsopacking up
the province's emergency
departments.
Site administrator Mary
Cardinal says that while
Seaforth hospital "has things
covered right now for emerg,"
it is "facing some of the chal-
lenges the rest of the
province is facing."
"Our doctors and nurses
have worked really hard,
given a tremendous effort,"
she says, adding that emer-
gency coverage would be a
challenge "if it were a case of
someone being sick."
Zoning slows )rth•
well pro.... ress
Leeming said the legislation, meant to pro-
tect farmland, requires the need to show a
lack of available land for urban development
before agricultural land can be rezoned.
She said planners have no option but, to
comply with the legislation.
And, while Huron County council agreed to
rezonings of the Walton Motocross and the
Cranbrook golf course . from agricultural to
recreational since they were existing uses, it
deferred a decision about rezoning the land
around the proposed Seaforth well.
Mayor Joe Seili pointed out that Huron
East needs the land for a well, not housing.
"We're in between a rock and a hard place.
We have lots of room for (urban) growth at the
hospital area andthis means we'd have to
Susan Hundertmark
411111111111111111101,
A provincial requirement to do a study prov-
ing the need to reclassify the land where
Huron East hopes to locate a new well is slow-
ing down the already long process of provid-
ing acceptable drinking water in Seaforth.
Councillors complained at Huron East's
Sept. 19 meeting to Huron County planner
Carol Leeming about the
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need to do a study showing
the province why the land
should be allowed to be
reclassified from agricul-
tural to urban.
"One ministry (the
Ministry of the
Environment) says our
water isn't fit to drink,"
said Seaforth Coun. Joe
Steffler, adding that
another ministry (the
Ministry of Municipal
Affairs) is preventing the
municipality from rezon-
ing the agricultural land
where Huron East hopes
to locate a new well.
He pointed out that
new provincial wellhead
protection legislation pro-
poses to make 300 metres
around a well unproduc-
tive as farmland since pes-
ticide and fertilizer use is
prohibited.
"We won't get much of a
crop if we leave it as agri-
cultural land if we don't
use fertilizer and the- last
thing we want is 20 acres
growing up in weeds," said
Stefller.
"Where's the common
sense in this?" complained
McKillop Coun. Sharon
McClure.
turn the hospital land back to agriculture and
that doesn't make sense," he said.
The 66 acres of farmland just north of the
Seaforth Medical Centre that is owned by the
Seaforth Community Hospital Trust is
already zoned urban and studies are current-
ly being done to look at how best to develop
the land.
As well, Seili said the landowner the munic-
ipality is negotiating with to acquire the land
for the well wants to see the parcel rezoned
since provincial restrictions will make farm-
ing it impossible.
In our case, we need water long before we
need land for housing," agreed Steffler.
Clerk -Administrator Jack McLachlan said
during a phone interview that the municipali-
ty could have bought just four acres of land
from the landowner if the land were rezoned.
But, it will have to buy a larger parcel if the
land cannot be rezoned.
"This will require going back for more nego-
tiations," said McLachlan.
Deputy -Mayor Bernie MacLellan said
Huron East isn't yet ready to go ahead with
its plans at the well and can complete the
study and prove the need for rezoning.
"Lots of times, farmers would thank the
province that farmland is being protected," he
said.