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Huron Expositor, 2009-03-04, Page 4- 7 - .• 4 ••''• f • ' - • • . • • •, <••- • , Page 4 March 4,2009 • The Huron Expositor •••••-•••• 4.4"10, • Opinion Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK IWO Keeping track of healthcare in Seaforth is some- times like reading a Russian novel. There are far too many characters and each char- acter is often known \by several different names (or in this case, weating several different hats). . It's no wonder that as the Seaforth Community Hospital faces its latest challenge with overnight closures at the emergency department caused by the Ca.nada-wide nursing shortage, the chorus of confusion begins again questioning just who's in and what exactly do they do. A meeting has been planned for April 14 by the Huron East Healthcare Partners committee and the Seaforth Community Development Trust to - once again - try- and clarify the situation. A colour -code chart is being created to list each of at least a dozen organizations - some of them -ap- pointed and other elected - who make the decisions surrounding local healthcare. What used to require one hospital board has mor- phed into an alliance of four hospitals, each receiv- tng advice from a Local Advisory Committee. Se.forth's hospital fundraising is led by a founda- tion, while its property is administered by a b.ospi- tal trust. Shortages of physicians and other healthcare pro fessionals have led to a raft of other committees, some devoted to recruitment and retentiop and others, like the Huron Community Family Health Team, creating a brand new configuration of health- care professionals designed to care for the most pa- tients possible. And, while it was once unheard of for municipal governments to have anything at all to. do with provincially -funded healthcare, the shortage , of healthcare professionals along with the importance of healthcare to the region's economic wellbeing has brought Huron East and its committees into the picture, as landlords, as financial contributors and as ambassadors. No waider ratepayers need a program to refer to as they wade through the plot lines of the various inevitable dramas that occur. • But, while we might bemoan the fact that we'll need the colour-coded chart made into a giant, fridge magnet for easy reference, we should also appreci- ate that a whole lot of local people have decided that healthcore is important enough to get involved and contribute where they can. Working together, they can help solve some of the considerable challenges facing today's healthcare System. Susan Hundertmark Your Conatuaity Newspaper Ohne 1860 Publisher - Dave Sykes Largest ever, • ackpot can't buy true love, b Besides true love, what can't money buy? Intangibles aside, it seems cash can get you almost any- thing. It's really no surprise then that Canadians flocked to Con- venience stores recently to buy a 6/49lottery ticket for the sec- ond largest jackpot of all time in this country: $50.3 million. • In Seaforth, GT Mini' Mart sold twice the usual amount of tickets and Mac's Milk sold about 1,000 tickets for the big draw: People across Canada waited their turn in line to buy a ticket, using their most keen ESP to conjure up the right numbers in their brains to match up with the winning sequence. They waited nervously for the day of the draw, while visions of retirement danced in their heads. •. I'd'take • But *hen' the tirne came andthe. ,winning numbers were .announced, all ,-those hopeful lotto players accepted their fates as **-mil- lionaires and went back to worlung day jobs and paying bilis.••• • But before the draw, oh how the 'Mind wan- dered, swelling up' with _optimism: -.0,4- hopes •.e.for winning big. Millions of imaginations .404404, from the reality of day jobs, 7debt and bills j.ntio?.it world of financial freedom, a.. bigger house, fancier car and maybe..4' boat- cottage 'or a few oth- er big ticket luxury items thrown in for good measure • . • - With, of course, 0000ghleft0yer40*.0*icle Ron The government is speading billions of 411(11*S. How cIo they pay for it all? They just ps.ri‘ it off until the economy ts better. • .•.; . • • for the extended family. A winning 6/49 lottery -ticket is a recipe for comfort and self- indulgence .that captivated the imaginations of millions in Feb- ruary. But on average, how desirable is this daydream -inducing lotto fever that . swept our town and the entire country? .- According to the Lotto 6/49 -official website, 73 per cent of adults in Canada -46 million -.- people — play the lotteries. Well over half of our population gladly hands over their working wages for a ticket in -hopes of starting a new,, ultra -wealthy life. What the 6/49 website doesn't say is that the chances of picking all six number! correctly are roughly one in 10 billion. They also don't tell you the vast majority of people buying lottery tickets are poor. Despite the near -impossible mathematical odds, the lottery still seduces us into believing we might actually win the next time. But what are.the'negatiye effects ofwinning the lottery? - • There's never any- forethought. about- how a winner's personality.may be severely 'dam- aged by an influx of cash. If you won, Would you turn into -a materialis- tic, ego -inflated, rich snob? Would you be .driven crazy by distant rela- tives you've never heard of phoning you up aslang for a loan? - Or would yOu fritter away your winnings See HOW, Page 6 The national debt is getting into the trillions! Where's it all coming from, • , , wou n t worry about it. They'll take care of it when the economy improves. by bavid Lacey ear the' debt is in the quadrillions CUBSCRIPTION RATES: LOCAL - 38.05 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. - SENIORS.- 36.14 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. Foreign: 38.05 a year in advance, plus $195.00 postage, plus G.S.T. • 38.05 a year in advance, plus $99.84 postage, plus G.S.T. Editorial and Business Offices -11 Main Street., Seaforth Thlephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519)527-2858 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, ONt NOK Visit our home page at www.seaforthhuronecpositoncom 10. 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