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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-05-20, Page 1SEIP 'S valu-mart 14 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 .' Delicious .`,w," Hot Deli INPfe4 Foods SIiJP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 Inside SOL -VE comes to agreement on pollution See page 3 Usborne Central launches Virtual Classroom See page 7 Getting • ready for the energy revolution 'See Crossroads second front Sandhill cranes touch . down in Exeter. See page 20 Q&A about Exeter's ' landfill site See page24 Emergency room temporarily closed Shortage of physicians providing emergency services at the hospital by Katherine Harding TA Reporter 'EXETER if you had a medical emergency Sunday-. night,- you •.1 would have been out of luck re: ceiving assistance at South- Huron Hospital. Their emergency room was closed from Sunday till Monday due to the shortage of an available . doctor. - "Sometimes you just =run out of gas...we could not find anyone to take that shift," said South Huron Hospital administrator Don Correll, explaining the closure. "However the important ,message here is: let's inform the public," said • Currell. • On Friday,. the hospital sent a press release to. • over nine media outlets asking them to publicly an- nounce the closure. 1There will be some 50,000 :peo- ple in -the area this weekend.. that should , • by aware' to not in- advertently come to Exeter seeking medical assistance,: the press re- lease stated. 'The ,hospital regrets this un- fortunate occurrence andr is, work- ing to achieve' a long term' %oIu- liop."• - • South Huron Hospital's chief of ;Taff 'Dr. Jerry Jadd attempted to find a doctor to fill the night shift. "I looked in London and I also called around to find if there were any.local 'doctors who could come out and chip in, but there wasn't.' said Jadd. "The closure a very' regretful situation," he %aid.. "It is un- fortunate that it had to fall -on such a busy and high profile'iireekend." "Sometim run out cou anyo D Jadd explained that there are only four practicing doctors in Ex- eter and two have withdrawn or re- duced their emergency room ser- vices. While the hospital recei▪ v▪ es weekend support from two London doctors, the facility is experiencing staffing troubles. "When it is a five , weekend month again like the one we are ex- periencing now, . we could ex- perience this shortage again," Jadd . said. "It has thrown us into a bit of a crisis. . Jadd commented that this is a "complicated issue" which runs deeper than a basic .man power shortage but for now the hest solution is to have more doctors come to the area. "I think we could definitely use one or two more physicians in the area providing emergency room ser- vice and • a -well rounded general practice.," said- Dr. 'Jadd. 1 1 He added; :'There has to- he a community -physician 'collaborative effort tel draw doctors to the area." Exeter Mayor Ben Hoogenhoom commented that while the town is not unique in having a shortage of doctorsi'this is a•hig problem." He said. "There have heen a couple of incidents where it (the emergency room) was almeisi - 'closed hut' at the last ,minute a solu- tion was always found. The hos- pital's hoard and medical staff have, to address this problem so that ,11 ,doesn't happen again. Hoogenboom was personalty ap- proached 'this. weekend by several Exeter residents,who were con- cerned about the emergency room closure. ' es you just of gas... we Id not find ne to take that shift." on Curren Gone fishing. Over the holiday weekend South Huron Hospital experienced a crippling doctor shortage. The emergency room had to be closed for one shift because of the situation. Bar- ricades. were sot up to block the entrances to the department. "People arc . very frustrated and I am top, but. i also understand the frustration of the doctors who only want to spend time with their fam- ilies," he said. Hoogenhoom is looking forward to a scheduled meeting on May 21 between the hospital hoard and del- egates f'rdm seven local councils that IS going tb address these recent problems. •' "It is a- chance' to sit down with the hospital ,hoard and see where we can he of help, -said Hoo- - genhoom_ There will also he discussion on developing a local medical clinic. The emergency room closure conies hot on. the heels' of two re- cem developments in health care. The first is the introduction of a resolution .►n -Thursday by Huron MPP Helen Johns to assist Ontario trained physicians working in un- derservrccd areas. • While Johns is not aware of a • doctor .shortage in the Exeter arca. loth Clinton and Wingham have claimed they are underservtced• by physicians. The other development is last week's announcement that the eight hospitals in . Huron -Perth had formed a new partnership - The new alliance said all facil- ities would remain open and 'more money would he channelled into hospital services. Zurich's arena e°��,� Elmer Bell leaves. long legacy of accomplishments ZURICH - Councillor Barb Jef- frey informed council Thursday that the arena is close to being li- censed. - ' , Jeffrey, also a•member of the vil- lage's Recreation Parks and Com- munity Centre Board. reported that the Health. Building. Liquor and. Fire Inspectors have all in- . vestigated. the arena. ' • While the dressing rooms can not be included in the license and a per- manent 42" high rail fence must be built to be able to include the pa- vilion. only a few alterations have to be made to meet the licenses re- quirements. • They include: • providing porta potties at the far end of the arena for large events. • minor upgrades made to the up- stairs of the arena in order to meet fire codes t i Seven schools receive upgrades STRATFORD - Seven schools will receive upgrades totalling art estimated 5800,000 by the time students go back *school in the all. At last Tuesday night's meeting of the Avon -Maitland District • School Board in Stratford, trustees approved a $146,500 tender from • Smith. Peat •Roofing to reroof and complete masonry restoration at • Goderich District Collegiate • Institute. - - The lowest tender came imbver the $120,000 budgeted figure. Paul Carroll, director of educa- v tion, said many factors influence, the price of bids from contractors, 'including cost of supplies and tim- ing. • Any shortfalls between the ten- der prices and the budgeted amount will be covered by the pro- gram(maintenance stub year fund- ing. "Our intention is to proceed with all of these. There are no commitments on this fund. There will be no problem," said Janet Baird -Jackson, superintendent. • Reroofing and masonry restora- tion will also take place at Listowel Central Public School and South Huron Secondary School, in Exeter. East Wawanosh Public School and Listowel District Secondary School will be reroofed. The fire alarm system at Stratford Central Secondary School will be upgraded. 4 By Bruce Shaw EXETER - On Saturday morning, the community and • the province said good-bye .to one of the most colourful' and influential leaders this Town has ever' produced. On that day, Elmer David Bell was buried at Exeter Cemetery. ' There is no end to the stories, real or imagined. that surround this' local lawyer whom one of his sec- retaries, Marlene Mathers. calls. 'One wonderful man. my second Dad.. Elmer. in truth was a lawyer, a raconteur. the President itf the Provinc,ral Progressive Conservative Party (tor 10 years). the Chair of the Ontario Provincial Police Commission, Exeter's citi- zen of the year and one of the most respected individuals in Ontario. At one .time: her was part -cif the -power Kase' of the province which stretched from John Roharts and ' John' White in London. to Bill Stewart in Middlesex to Charlie MacNaughton and. Elmer Bell in Exeter. "those men %hayed the poli- ties- and economics Of our province when Ontario was at Its hest. at its peakof affluence and influence: One of the more controversial aspects of Elmer's life centred ,iroun'd the part lie played in oust- ing John Dicfe,nhakcr from the leadership of the federal PC''s.' • Along with Dalton Camp and it very close circle of others. Ebner helped organize the 'naght of the long knives' which saw the former Prime Minister challenged and then defeated in a leadership vote. Although many. could see the need for such action. Elmer said that he was often (and not always kindly ) reminded of the- emotional impact that man had on the nation. Locally, many will have fond memories of both his low on -non- existent fees. his 'loss' of his glass- es (which were usually on his head). his burn marks on his shirt Students dig in with the Kids 'Kitchen Table_ Project Students at McCurdy, Mt. Carmel and Colborne schools etre taking ownership of the projects 'by designing and planting the vegetable gardens By Kate Monk T -A Reporter HURON COUNTY - Students in Huron County are getting 'a hands on lesson in gardening thanks to the Kids Kitchen 'Table pilot project at three elementary schools., McCurdy, Colborne Cntral and Mt. Carmel schools are taking. part in the project to, teach students about growing food. The Children's Aid Society' of Huron, Rural Response for Healthy Children and area businesses are sponsoring the project which start- ed in January when the Huron County Health Unit visited the schools to talk about nutrition. The students have planned' and designed vegetable gardens at each school. Lynda Rotteau, the Kitchen Table Advisor said it's important for the students to be intricately involved and to take ownership of the Kitch- en Table program. The students even wrote letters to businesses re- -questing their support. The Exeter Do -It Centre. Ca- nadian • Tire. MacLean's Home Hardware and the Ausable- Bayfteld Conseriiation Authority have donated materials for the McCurdy and Mt. Carmel projects. Goderich area businesses have con- tributed to the Colborne school pro- ject. Last week, the students planted a variety of vegetables. Some will be harvested before the end of the school year while other produce will wait until the fall. Through the summer, a different family will maintain their school's garden each • Gifts to gairdons. From left, Chuck Mallette of the Exeter Do- lt Centre, Ken Varley• of MacLean's Home Hardware and Randy Stanlake of the Exeter Canadian Tire hand over gar- dening. to Kitchen Table Advisor Lynda Rotteau. Area businesses have generously donated, to the Klds Kitchen Table Project. week. Huron County Food Advisors will teach the students how to pro- cess and preserve the harvest in the fall. According to Rotteau, the stu- dents will decide what they'll do with the food. 1 As pan of the pilot, different grades are participating in each school: Grades 5 and 6 at McCur- dy, Grade 7 at Mt. Carmel and Grade 8 at Colborne. Rotteau said everyone, including students, teachers and businesses has been "really enthusiastic". 'Several schools arc greening tfteir school yards . and arc seeing a change in student behavior. Ac- cording to Rottcau, vandalism and lighting have decreased dramat- ically in schools with natural yards. "The kids design it and they own it. It's a place a kid can go read a hook," she said. "It becomes a peaceful place they can go." Teachers can also take students to the garden to resolve conflicts. The gardens at McCurdy. Mt. Carmel and Colborne will he ded- •icated'as international' school peace gardens in June, thanks to the spot sorship of the Ontario Parks As- sociation. • "it has worked far better than an- ticipated." Rottcau said. She has discovered• even though • students live on farms, they don't necessarily know about growing vegetables. She hopes the students can apply the skills they learn at school to growing food at home. The Kitchen Table project in- cludes growing food organically and Rotteau hopes Environment Canada will also contribute funding to tic in with the spin-off of de- creasing toxic chemicals in the wa- ter table. Rottcau is developing a work- book for teachers to use so the pro- ject doesn't die if further funding is not received, The Canadian Living Foundation provided the initial funding to get the pilot project off the ground. If more funding is found, the program will be offered throughout the Avon Maitland and Huron -Penh Separate school boards next year. from his pipe which. it not on tire. was Out. hut still in his mouth. his idling car with the wipers still on while he. was comlortahly at work in his office. On a very personal note. i Nought his house. but before the deal closed he was Offered more money. He refected the offer. having already inade..t vernal ;om- initment to me. (The oilier buyer' told me the story. not Elmer.) The minor repairs were left to his wife. Barb. but he was there for the moral support. Many of us will have particular images 01 Elmer. and most of them will invole humour. hut not one elf us who knew Itnn will forget his • stories or his generosity',. hath financial and spintual. Elmer is survived by his wife Barbara and daughter :\nnc. both of London. May 2-4 charges up from '97 GRAND BEND - While liquor and traffic charges this Victoria Day weekend were up drastical- Iv from last years, it's hard to compare the two first weekends of :surmmmr. A total of 327 charges were laid from Friday to Monday morning in Grand Bend, North Lambkin, OPP - Const. Luke George said, primarily liquor and traffic • offences. Last year there were 172 Liquor Licence Act charges, Ill impaired driving offences. 21 Highway Traffic Act offences and other assorted charges. There were also 25 ar- rests and Live accidents last Vic- toria Day weekend. Therc were 351 total charges laid at the -'Bend in '96 and 508 in '95. More detailed statistics from this Victoria Day weekend were not available at press hut George said it was a busy weekend for the OPP at the 'Bend. There were 36 liquor charges at Pinery Provincial Park this long weekend, down sharply from last year's summer opener. The offences were down despite a full campground of over 4,000 campers at about 1,001) sites. Grand Bend was crammed with revellers on the weekend and it's estimated the village supported 20.000 people at times. 1