Lucknow Sentinel, 2009-05-27, Page 3Local hospitals to reduce ER wait times
Residents of Huron -Bruce rid-
ing will benefit from funding to
help local hospitals reduce emer-
gency room (ER) wait times.
Two local hospitals will receive
funding for physician assistants.
Of the $4.1 million in funding
for 27 physician assistants two
will be. in Huron -Bruce hospi-
tals. This' funding will provide
one physician assistant at both
Alexandra Marine & General
Hospital in Goderich and the
Wingham & District Hospital.
As part of its Emergency
Room Wait Time Strategy, the
Ontario government is investing
more than $82 million in
2009/10 to reduce the amount of
time people spend in hospital
emergency rooms. This is the
second year that the government
is investing in this comprehen-
sive strategy. The strategy helps
hospitals improveemergency
i
room performance n a number .
of ways.
These initiatives are aimed at
improving the overall perform-
ance of hospital emergency
rooms across the province.
Physician assistants support
physicians in a range of health
care settings. Physician assis-
tants might:
- Conduct patient interviews
and take medical histories
- Perform physical examina-
tions
- Perform certain controlled
acts delegated by a physician
- Provide counselling on pre-
ventive health care
Having highly -trained physi-
cian assistants on -hand to per-
form some of these duties frees
up emergency room doctors,
allowing them to see more
patients.
"The McGuinty government is
working with the province's hos-
pitals to ensure our emergency
rooms are running as efficiently
as possible," said Carol,Mitchell,
MPP for Huron -Bruce. "Our ER
strategy, along with our
improvements to community
services for seniors, will help to
reduce the time people spend in
ERs."
Council supports volunteer firefighters
From page 1
"I think
$500,000 is a rea-
sonable number to
consider, said
councillor .,Anne
Eadie. "There has
to be some
accountability."
However, coun-
cillor Jim Hanna.
thought it was a
waste of time.
This defeated
endorsement
would also look at
any affiliated
organizations.
Legislation for
volunteer and
part-time fire-
fighters
Huron -Kinloss
Twp. council sup-
ported the resolu-
tion of the town-
ship of . Otonabee-
South Monaghan
and in so doing
petitioned the.
provincial govern-
ment to take
immediate action •
to implement
P resumptive
L egislative
Regulations. The
legislation would
provide volunteer
and part-time fire-
fighters with cov-
erage for eight
different types of
cancer associated
with fire fighting'
or for having a
heart attack within
24 hours of an
incident.
"It's something
our volunteers
firefighters should
have," said
Hanna.
Local
Sustainable
Procurement
Practice
Huron -Kinloss
Twp..
council
endorsed the reso-
lution of the
Homegrown
Ontario Steering
Committee and in
so doingsupports
the procurement
practice of pur-
chasing meat and
poultry products
of Ontario farm-
ers.
This practice is
to be identified as
the preferred prac-
tice.
Cost saving
potential
Huron -Kinloss
Twp. council sup-
ported the resolu-
tion 'of the town of
Saugeen Shores
and in doing so
petitioned the
Saugeen Valley
Conservation
Authority (SVCA)
to consider any.
options that may
have" a cost saving
outcome.
Saugeen shores
would like to look
into things such as
realignment of
services or amal-
gamation of serv-
ices.
Councillor
Eadie did have
some reservations
about the plan-
ning,
but was
optimistic some-
thing can be done
to save the SVCA
money.
"I have- a prob-
lem with strategic
plans, but we are
going ahead with
if so 1 -(want them
{o be meaning-
ful," said Eadie.•
"The . only place I
can . see to save
money : -is with'
educational . pro-
grams."
Funding
request
The .Kincardine
and Community
Health Care
Foundation
requested finan-
cial support from
Huron -Kinloss
Twp. council in
the price of
$35,000 to go
towards thedigital
mammography
machine project.
Huron -Kinloss
Twp. council
denied the fund-
ing , request as it
was not in their
budget to do so.
"It's worth-
while, but it's just
not in our budget
at $35,000," said
Eadie.
Front mount
mower and
skateboard ramp
purchase
Huron -Kinloss
Twp. council
approved the pur-
chase of a front
mount rotary
mower for the
trackless machine
from Work
Equipment Ltd in
the amount of
$17,700 plus
taxes. And that the
purchase is
exempt from the
township's pur-
chasing policy on
the basis that it's a
limited source
supplier.
Huron -Kinloss
Twp. councilalso
approved the pur-
chase of a 3'x8'
steel : skateboard
ramp for • the
Ripley Skate Park
from Belair
Products in the
amount . of
$4,856.80 plus
taxes.
Purple Grove
Bridge
replacement
There was a dis-
cussion about the
replacement of the
Purple Grove
Bridge at the May
20 Huron -Kinloss
Twp. council
meeting as to
what to do with
the high mainte-
nance cost of the
bridge.
The cost of
replacing the
bridge will be
$400,000. Council
believes that is
too costly. They
discussed other
options such as
closing the bridge,
but councillor
Don Murray want-
ed to look into
other options in
fixing the bridge.
Mayor Mitch
Twolan wants a
policy setup so
council can figure
what they can do
with all of the
bridges in the
township, instead
of just l looking at
one bridge at a
time.
"I'm not "happy
about the idea of
closing bridges,
but it's the flnan-
cial reality we are
facing," said
councillor Hanna.
In the end H -K
Twp.council
decided to bring
outside companies
in to see { what
their options are.
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - Page 3
Photo by Ruth Dobrensky
Lucknow Legion Brach #309, held its annual Veterans and
WidowsAppreciation Dinners on Saturday, May 16. After the din-
ner, rededication of the Veterans' picture display was held with
Ruth King and Fred Ward (in picture) drivelling the new case.
it 1111CINIVO
DRIVEWAYS, SIDEWALKS, PATIOS,
COUNTERTOPS & MORE
STAMPED, EXPOSED
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The Wingham & District Hospital iscalling for nominations
of individuals who are interested in serving as a'director on
*stI the board.
winnham Nominations for the following position will be received by
�...s.•.►.:•�.. the secretary, Denise Mino, up to May 27, 2009.
O. *Moe Maw
Elections will be held for:
. 2 Directors in the Central Zone (Wingham, Blyth, East Wawanosh)
• 1 Director in the Western Zone (Lucknow, Kinloss, West Wawanosh, Ashfield)
�. 1 Director at Large (a resident in the County of Huron or Bruce within a radius of 40 km
of the hospital)
Term for the Directors is two years. Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting,
June 10,2X9.
• Lucknow
519=628'2813
Keeps you Safe.
Our Quality Service. Brings You Back
• Kinard
519-39
why YouShOuId Buy Now
FACT: a number of factors in today's economy have combined to bring car prices to near -
record lows in recent months.
FACT: in 2008, car prices declined to a 23 year tow as a ratio of personal disposable
income.
FACT: a vehicle purchase last year cost on average just 18.2 weeks of pre-tax income for
_ typical Canadian _.. This .. lowest --,bo has been since 1985.
This situation is due to a number of factors...
• Many .of the cars we: see on today's lots were purchased by dealers earlier last year
when the Canadian dollar was at or near parity with the U.S. dollar.
• Manufacturers recognizing the state of the economy are aggressively seeking new busi-
ness by offering more incentives to buyers. •
• These factors have been reflected In recent price levels.
• Statistics Canada's latest consumer price data show that in February, the price to purchase
or lease a car decreased by 6.4 per cent on a year -over -year basis. That follows a year -
over -year decrease of 8.2 per cent in January.
• As we head into the spring selling season, dealers' inventories will be at their highest
yearly levels thus offering a wide variety of choices.
r is TOTAL TransportatlonDealershipMont�amery Moho s