No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1999-04-14, Page 2928 Exeter Tlnw,Asreeie. Wednesday, April 14, 1999 Alhambra cheque donations The Alhambra group of Grand Bend made donations Sunday to help area or- ganizations. Above, the Grand Bend and Area Community Policing receives $1,000 for its Komputers for Kids program. Pictured from left are Grand Bend OPP Const. Peter Wiersma, grand commander John Smits, vice grand commander Martin Stokkermans, supreme captain of the bodyguard Gerald Forster, chairperson of Grand Bend and Area Community Policing Bob Sharen and supreme commander Angelo Miele. Pictured below, South Huron Community Living received $4,000 from the (o - cal Alhambra group and $4,000 from the international group. From left are grand commander Leo Shaw, grand commander John Smits, vice grand com- mander Martin Stokkermans, president of South Huron Community Living Donna Greb, supreme commander Angelo Miele and grand commander Hen- ry Chouinard. Rough weather discourages canoeist entries By Joan Beierling \.\ft` \ c:c),c1(IS'(;\r>r.\ VARNA - The Stanley Club met on April 7 with President Charles Reid opening the meeting with his usual bits of humor. The minutes were read by Anna Keys. The Seniors Spring Rally in Seaforth Legion Hall will be held on Wed. April 14 with regis- tration at 9:15 a.m. Admission is $5 which includes lunch. The speak- er will be Len Harrison, President of United Senior Citizens of Ontario. Bob Stirling resigned as treasurer after ten years of service. Bob Peck .will to be the new treasurer. Volunteers at Huronview are invited to Appreciation Day on April 13 with wine and cheese beginning at 1:30pm. Entertainment at 2:15 followed by dessert. On April 21, Stan Lee will, entertain at Huronview. Leona McBride will bring her trumpet and new key- board. Several games of euchre were enjoyed. The 14th Annual Canoe Rally ran on Sunday with extreme weather condi- tions. Due to this only 40 'canoes registered with 80 participants. First prize for the poker hands went to Rob Knox of Brucefield, 2nd prize to Greg Bennewis from Brucefield and 3rd to Wayne Peck of London. The lucky winner of the Algonquin canoe supplied by Huron Outfitters was Peggy Menzies, The Stanley Township Rec Committee would like to thank all their helpers, all whom donated and all who par- ticipated in this annual event. Church Services were in Varna on Sunday and the Covenanting Service for Elly Van Bergen was Sunday evening. The Presiders of the Service were Joe Laurie and John Finlay, Clerks of the Session. Guest Preacher was Rev. Rick Hawley. Chairperson for the Presbytery was Kathi Urbasik-t Lindley. Representative for Presbytery was John Campbell and the Organist was Floyd McAsh. After the Covenanting Service Carol Simons presented Van Bergen with a stole, Charles Reid presented her with the Bible, Linda Linfield with the water end candle, Hugh McBride with the bread and wine. Greetings followed the Benediction by Van Bergen. Gordon Hill was the M.C. for this. Gordon welcomed Van Bergen an.d gave greetings. Greetings from the pas- toral charge were from Bernice Reid representing the Congregations, Jennifer Keys - the Sunday School, Gerardus Steenbeek - the Youth Groups, The Official Board and committees - Blaine Stephenson, Debra Rathwell the U.C.W.'s., the choir John Robinson and Leisa Stephenson repre- senting Five Alive. Other greetings came from local Clergy, individuals from local dignitaries, Huron Perth Presbytery. Van Bergen graciously thanked everyone. Welcome to Varna Goshen Elly. Church Sunday April 18 will be in Goshen. Happy 75th Birthday to Floyd McAsh. Happy 50th Birthday to Bonnie Roy and Happy Birthday to June Webster. The annual yard sale is on May 22 and 23 at the Complex. Phone 263-5354 if you are interested in set- ting up a table. . The Annual Varna church barbecue is com- ing upon June 16. Shortag of doctors for SH Hospital If there are no Doctors there is no Emergency Room. If there is no Emergency Room there is really no hospital. If there is no hospital we have lost an essential part of our community. The shortage of doctors who are able to work in our ER has reached a critical level and already twice this year, we have reluctantly been unable to pro- vide Emergency coverage. The problem is incredibly complex and there are no easy solutions. Our Administrator Janice Cosgrove, in conjunction with our local Board of Directors, staff, and the Leadership team of our Partnership has devised and begun to implement a num- ber of aggressive steps to limit ER clo- sures..Some of the following processes have already been instituted, while oth- ers will require more research and development. Logically, to cover more shifts the number of physicians who work the ER must be increased. Unfortunately, these people are not readily available, as pre- vious provincial governments have decreased the number of medical stu- dents trained every year. For example, and some MDs state that Ontario, for a number of reasons, is simply not as "Doctor Friendly" as it should be. Hospital Boards such as ours have been challenged with simply having to make do with less. We will be attempting to increase our critical mass of doctors by several means. Strategies include: • approaching local doctors who do not participate or minimally participate to help us through this crisis by taking ER shifts; • provide all physicians in the Iluron- Perth Partnership with a calendar of available shifts and ask for their assis- tance; • develop. an alliance with London Health Sciences specifically aimed at the provision of ER doctors; • contract shifts through a private provider. Nurse practitioners have also been in the limelight lately, and this avenue is being actively pursued. Imperative to the functioning of these individuals is local MD support, as nurse practitioners are not able to perform all the tasks of an ER physician Our doctors will need to be paid to provide this support, although they may not be present within the hospital: Our ER physicians are now paid a ses- sional fee of $70 per hour for after hours ER work. In some centres it is now $100, as demand simply outweighs supply, and I have even heard of $140! Therefore we must take a hard look at raising this guaranteed hourly rate,, at the same time respecting the other hos- pitals in our area, and realizing that South Huron Hospital is in a deficit bud- get position. It would be counterproduc- tive -to steal doctors from one site, possi- bly jeopardizing that hospital's ER. Furthermore, we are in negotiations with the Ministry of Health to develop what is termed an Alternate Payment Plan (APP) for doctor remuneration. This type of plan has certainly helped some communities such as Stratford. There are several other approaches being explored, such as the revitaliza- tion of a back up schedule, providing funds for ER physician continuing edu- cation, and further recruitment of MD's to our community. All of these are designed to make ER prac- tice a little more attractive. It is only through a well coordinated effort that we will be successful. Please also understand that we need time to adequately inform all of our community, ambu- lance, fire, police and the appro- priate government bodies should an ER closure occur again. Therefore, should a doc- tor not be available to fill a des- ignated shift, all appropriate media will be informed, and the ER will be closed. The Board of Governy)rs feels that a minimum of 48 hours is necessary to complete this action. It is unsafe and unfair to provide piece meal ER cover- age, and hopefully more long term clo- sure can be averted. However, doctors like the rest of us, are certainly entitled to summertime vacations with their families. This will certainly make sched- uling even more complex, and there may be further closures. It should be mentioned that it is the wish of the Board of Directors of South Huron Hospital to do practically any- thing possible to maintain our ER cover- age. However, this will not be possible without costs. The Ministry of Health that largely provides 'ur funding has acknowledged that we h; ve been chron- ically underfunded, and fall into the "have not", rather than one of the "have" hospitals. Do not be fooled that the almost week- ly announcements of new money will fib ter through to rural hospitals such as ours. So far we have been identified to receive $34,949 to be added to our base funding. For the past fiscal year, we received some rather sizeable dollars that almost brought us to the break even point. Although" well appreciated, these funds, were bile time only, and have done nothing to address our chronic underfunding. Furthermore, we will continue to receive payment for restruc- tuting costs that will help our present position, but do little to cure the under- lying illness. I also learned recently that we need replacement of our aged stand- by generator at a cost of $50,000 to $80,000 [ want to assure our community that if the Board of Governors needs to spend all of the hospital reserves to keep our ER open, and our hospital afloat, , this will be done. Hopefully soon, the flow of base funding from the Ministry of Health will be based on sound statistical data, and not based on tradition. In closing, please be assured that we are aggressively approaching these problems, and not all is doom -and - gloom. We are pleased to announce that we have made office space available to the VON Palliative Care volunteers. This will be shared with the Huron Addiction Assessment and Referral Center. Furthermore, the east basement wing of the hospital has largely been vacated to accommodate the necessary renovations for the Anago and the Huron Adult Day Away programs. I would also appeal once again to any individual or group to spearhead the development of a Medical Arts Facility to help recruit and retain doctors. It is only through a community effort that this will come into existence. DR. DOUG HOOVER SH HOSPITAL BOARD CHAIR Hurondale WI enjoy 'Body Shop' speaker USBORNE TOWNSHIP - Ilurondale WI met at the home of June Stewart on March 31 with 11 mem- bers and one visitor pre- sent. President Fern Dougall opened the meeting with the Institute Ode and Mary Stewart Collect. Program convener Stewart gave a reading. Guest speaker Jill Johnston from "The Body Shop" in London explained the operation of her cos- metic store in Masonville Mall. Everyone sampled many of her products. Marian Frayne gave a reading "Too much plan- ning" and Stewart had a reading "The Raleigh Man". Roll call was answered with "a beauty hint". Communications were read and reports given. Dougall gave a report for the Tweedsmuir committee, stating the progress with the ceme- tery plots and stones at Huronview. Plans were made for the district annual at Crediton, May 20. in February the Institute members visited the Exeter Villa to help with the bingo games.