HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2009-01-28, Page 4age 4 January 28, 2009 • The Huron Expositor
Opinion
Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK IWO
Rnighttime closure
alarming but nec�
The recent announcement that Seaforth's hospital
will not be able to keep its emergency department
open overnight after Feb. 7 - at least until more
nursing staff can be hired - can't help but alarm the
community.
Whether it's a sick child in the middle of the night,
a traffic accident or a heart attack, Seaforth and
area residents have been able to depend on its hos-
pital emergency as the first line of healthcare.
With a large number of seniors and orphan pa-
tients
in the area, the emergency department artment is a
place many depend on.
But, for the past two and a half years, staffing
shortages - particularly of nurses - have caused a
huge challenge at the Seaforth hospital and staff
have worked overtime and given up vacations to
keep the emergency department open. �m}Y, w Si#40*:
Recent staffing circumstances have caused the
hospital to make the difficult decision to, at least for
,:
now, close the emergency department from 8 p.m. ,:
8 a.m.
And, `while one 'can't `help but fear that a service,
once lost, will never be offered again, we must rec-
ognize that administration has made a very difficult
but necessary decision.
Nursing associations have been warning the pub-
lic for years that the shortage of nurses was only
going to get more severe.' While Seaforth now has
the dubious distinction of being the first emergency
department to close overnight because of the nurs-
ing shortage, health officials and doctors are warn-
ing that it won't be the last.
. Seaforth's hospital is one of the most well -support-
ed institutions in the community and if fundraising
alone could solve the problem, the emergency de-
partment would not be facing this crisis. However,
more community fundraising couldn't hurt. .
Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance CEO Andrew
Williams recently approached the Seaforth hos-
pital's foundation asking for a $40,000 contribu-
tion over the next five years towards a $ I, million
Alliance -wide initiative to recruit nurses. The plan
includes several incentives to both find and keep
nurses in Alliance hospitals with tuition assistance,
hiring bonuses, referral bonuses, mentorship pro-
grams and education funds= for. all PCNs.
And, while the Seaforth foundation hasn't re-
sponded yet with a commitment, we, hope the re-
cruitment effort would place a :very high priority on
finding ER nurses to help reopen Seaforth's emer-
gency department 24 hours a day.
Susan Hundertmark
our Community Newspaper Since 1
.Publishcr . Dave Sykes
Editorial and Business Owes -11 Main Street., Seaforth
Thlephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858
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I'm just whining through the days
of 'character buiking weather'
Maybe it's because i spent
a week off work with .nothing,
better to do than gaze out the
window at the neverending
snow floating down from the
clouds while I recovered from
some minor surgery recently.
But, I've found myself pining
for the warmth of summer and
letting the January deep freeze all'E
year more than it usually does.
everyone loves at least a little bit of snowl"
in December - it gets you into the Christmas winter - both physically and . emotionally - as
spirit. But, it's a rare encounter in late Janu- we pad ourselves with layers of clothing and
ary especially when it's been snowing since : look for whatever cheer we can find as the sun
late ;November - whect you meet someone who .weakly shines just a little bit longer into the
enthuses about the height of the snowbanks -: -late afternoon•
and the relentlessness of the frozen precipita s.y kids are feeling particularly bitter about
tion. he weather this winter. But, it's not the snow
My husband heard a radio announcer refer and the cold they object O. They're all for a
to a cold and snowy ,January as "character fierce snows wall when it's !ra 'n -at 6 a.m.: n�
q �g o_.
budding weather" and 1 have to agree. a weekday and forces a long fist of school clo-.
This is the season when we're all just a little sures.
bit tempted to collapse sobbing in' a snowdrift This year, however, despite the heavier than
as we labour away shovelling the driveway, usual snowfalls, the storms are not arriving at
especially after the snowplow goes; by refill- the most opportune time - only one snow da
y
ing the end : of the lane. Maybe the term- "stiff so far, my kids moan when they're ` used to sig
r
upper hip" code a from early Canadian .settlers or seven..•
resolutely be wring the Wizen wilderness, with When the groundhog does its yearly predic-
tions next- week about the length of time we've
However, it is the time of year when we have atill to endure of winter, you can bet they'll be
to simultaneously give . ourselves both a pep rooting for. six more }weeks of the white stuff
talk and a scolding as we venture onto snowy • but only to increase their chances of fulfilling
highways into wind -driven white -outs on our the typical quota of Huron County snow -days.
4
way to work.. � 4"74''
-- ._tet -3f1•1., raa'.:,i2-.rii "). . f:
I know, it's the climate that de-
fines the nation and as a good
Canadian I should be revel-
ling in such bracing, stimulat-
ing temperatures, partaking in
outdoor hockey games, sliding
through a snow-covered wood-
land land on cross-country skis or
hurtling down a hillside on a
s toboggan or snowboard. But, I'm not. Instead,
I'm whinlng • tG.F '' 1^�: [-'�••' T''i'x...' St1` T r �!' �eF`!".►�' iiG ��'rs- -r'�.. fir.-."-:.%
There's just so much more effort required in
q
nevera complaint being uttered.
{,
'Since it's your birthday Sort of a nostalgic
It's all next week I decided tolook at your life
aboui you. do a retrospective of while you're still
ur life. around to
appreciate it.
T' m turning
sixty.
I'm not
dead'
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i
•3 -
rttrber• Data* Community
of no Canadian
�r. •r
Susan Hundertmark
Editor
seaforthnews@bowesnet.com
_
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Reporter
F
r
sea fortheditoliol®bowesnet. com
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