Loading...
The Times Advocate, 2005-11-09, Page 3Wednesday,November 9, 2005 Exeter Times -Advocate 3 Use ER for emergencies only By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — South Huron Hospital is ask- ing the public to help ease the workload on doctors working in the emer- gency depart- ment. Patients are being asked to only use the emergency room for real emer- gencies; patients with non -emer- gencies should use either the walk-in clinic or their own family doctor. While the hos- pital won't be turning anyone away from its emergency room, a new pol- icy will see nurs- es assessing patients and, in non -emergency situations, patients will be asked to either return later, use the walk-in clin- ic, make an appointment with their family doctor or wait until the emer- gency doctor is available. Patients are being notified of the new policy. The emer- gency depart- ment is staffed by a doctor 24 hours a day, but that doctor may be sleeping in the middle of the night and need to be woken up for emergencies. As hospital chief of ER Dr. Jaime Pereira explains, the hospital's emer- gency depart- ment has been reduced to four full-time doctors after the recent departure of Dr. Philip Chan. To offer round -the- either 8 a.m. - 6 clock service in p.m., 6 p.m. - 8 the emergency a.m. or the 24 department, hour shift. some doctors "Some like the are working 24 24 hour shift, hour shifts. some don't," Hospital CEO Pereira says, Debra Hunt said adding that he the hospital worked 76 hours wants to take last week. He some of the said different pressure off doctors can han- those doctors dle a variety of and ensure they workloads, but don't burn out. everybody pitch - "We want to es in the best make sure we they can. take care of the And because of physicians we the shortage of have and not doctors in wear them out," Exeter, some Hunt says, shifts in the ER adding that are being filled some patients on a day-by-day using the emer- basis. gency depart- In the mean- ment could easi- time, a comxnit- ly be taken care tee continues to of at the walk-in work on recruit - clinic. She ing new doctors emphasizes a to the area and doctor is always Hunt encour- available for ages anyone emergencies, interested to get but the new poli- involved. cy is designed to She says the give the ER doc- new policy in the tor a break. ER will help "We don't attract doctors expect any other to South Huron. professional to Adding that work 24 hour other communi- shifts," she says. ties are "upping Pereira says the ante" on it's standard doctor recruit - practice to refer ment, Hunt says patients to a the hospital walk-in clinic or needs the entire their family doc- community to tor. He said help attract doc- some patients tors. have been using "It's every - the ER in non- body's responsi- emergency situ- bility," Pereira ations because says."Everybody they think they will win in the can be treated end." faster. Exeter isn't "You can't use alone in trying to an ER as a 24- recruit doctors, hour walk-in Pereira says, but clinic," he says, "you don't have adding the enough family overnight doctor doctors to go needs to stay around." fresh and alert. Few medical "You're mak- students are ing life and pursuing careers death decisions in family medi- at 2-3 a.m." cine. According Doctors at to a newsletter South Huron from the Ontario Hospital work College of Dr. Jaime Pereira, left, became the chief of the emergency room for South Huron Hospital after the recent depar- ture of Dr. Philip Chan. Pereira has been with the hospital for nearly four years.With him is hospital CEO Deb Hunt. The hospital is asking patients to help ease the workload on ER doctors by going to the walk-in clinic or their fami- ly doctor in non -emergencies. (photo/Scott Nixon) Family Physicians, only 28 per cent of current medical school graduates are choosing family medicine. "Of that group," presi- dent Dr. Val Rachlis writes, "only 24 per cent are plan- ning on being part of compre- hensive care. This translates to 13 out of a class of 200. Place that along- side the huge numbers who are presently scaling back their practices, leaving family medicine alto- gether, leaving Ontario, or retir- ing, and we begin to envision the enormous problems now facing our com- munities." Working in Exeter's favour, though, is its closeness to London, Pereira says. The walk-in clinic is open seven days a week at the South Huron Medical Centre (across the street from the hospital). Hours are 4-7 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. on weekends. The clinic is open every day except Christmas Day. Suspect sought in Lucan bank robbery LUCAN — The Middlesex OPP continue to investigate a bank robbery at the TD - Canada Trust in Lucan Nov. 2. A lone male wearing a disguise and armed with a "long gun" entered the bank and demanded money from tellers. After receiving the money the suspect fled in a full size black extend cab pickup truck that was later found by the OPP. The vehicle is a stolen Dodge Ram pickup truck taken from the Burford area the morning of the robbery. After fleeing the bank the robber dropped the money, leaving empty handed. The Middlesex OPP are asking for assis- tance from the public. The suspect is described as male, 6'2, wearing a dark coloured hooded sweat- shirt, plaid design "pajama bottom" type pants, dark glasses with the lower part of the face covered and wearing a mask or similar type covering. Dear Friends and Customers, It is with a heavy heart that we write this letter. We have decided that this upcoming season will be the last one for the STEDMANS store in Exeter. Over the past 30 months we have seen our sales decline very rapidly. Our customer traffic has decreased by 40% in the last seven months alone. We have tried various for- mat changes to the business and some have worked but the traffic still declines. The last 15 months have been extremely hard on our family. We know the big box stores have been the primary force against our survival. Our type of store is one that makes it hard to offer the merchandise available by these preda- tors. You know, this is our 17th Christmas Season and like every other year it will come and go. We would like to thank our friends and neighbours for your patronage over the years. We will be starting our store wide liquidation starting NOV. 16th. Keep an eye on the store to see what we have planned. Yours sincerely Deb and Bob Gehan Owners/Operators Stedmans V&S Dept. Store, Exeter StedmansVS 309 Main EXETER t Crafts 'n More... 235-2811 V) TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES -� re Huron Motor Products ■UNIRO AL/ JIIIDC AAvanneci Vecnnningv IInas Our knowledgeable tire experts will help you choose the right tires for your vehicle and specific driving needs. We stock a large selection of brand names and sizes at more than competitive prices .. . Fall Tire Event • FREE Lifetime tire rotations with the purchase of 4 new tires.. . • FREE off season tire storage (Winter or all season).. . • $50.00 Visa gift card rebate with purchase of 4 Michelin Winter tires. . • Steel wheel and Winter tire program for all makes and models.. . • Draw for 27" Television with purchase of 2 or more tires.. . • GM along with the MTO strongly recommends the use of winter tires for effective steering, braking and traction control. CALL OUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT FOR DETAILS (519) 235-0363 OR 1-800-265-3476 DIRECT LINE SERVICE (519) 235-3483 cn 640 Main Street South, Exeter, Ontario • "Wi ete'7 is &'eee " TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES • TIRES m 0) 7 m 0) 7 m 0) cnm m --� m m 0) 70 m 0)