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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-03-25, Page 22 News Record • Wednesday, March 25, 2015 Huron and Perth health units to discuss potential merger Dave Flaherty QMI Agency The idea of merging the health units of Perth and Huron counties is back on the table. A group of representatives from boards and senior staff from each health unit is being created to begin the discussions. "We are coming in with a blank slate," said Tyler Hessel, mayor of Bluewater and the chair of Huron County's board of health, explaining the idea of a merger has been discussed in the past but the two sides could never "find a mutual ground:' A possible merger was first raised in the Revitalizing Ontar- io's Public Health Capacity report in 2005. "Services are becoming more difficult to provide. We are look- ing ooking at how we can provide the same level of service - if not bet- ter;" Hessel said. According to amedia release, while financial implications will be considered, the initial dis- cussions will focus on whether there is a shared vision between the two health units that could be strengthened by an amalga- mation, and if a merger would improve the service to communities. Hessel said both counties have areas of specific expertise that could help each other. "Perth has an alliance with the University of Waterloo which could help us, and with Lake Huron, Huron County is Local mother speaks after serious car collision in Holmesville Tara Ostner The Clinton News Record Candais Guay, a Central Huron resident, would like to thank her mother and her fiance's mother and father and step -mother for all of their help and support since she, her fiance and her children were involved in a serious car collision last month in Holmesville. "I don't knowwhat I would do if it wasn't for their huge help," she describes. "I can't even express how amazing these people have been' As an example of their sup- port, shortly after the accident Guay's mother-in-law created a bank account to help sup- port the family. The account is located at the TD Canada Trust branch in Goderich and, as the bank states, the staff is happy to assist people who are inter- ested in making a donation. The serious collision occurred just after 10 p.m. on February21 at the intersection of Huron Road (Highway 8) and Parr Line in Holmesville. Guay, her fiance and three of Guay's four children were in the car at the time of the crash. Currently, one of Guay's daughters remains in a coma at the hospital, her other daughter is recovering at a special care centre, her and her fiance's son was released from the hospital a few days after the accident and Guay and her fiance were released hours after the accident. Guay's fourth child was at the children's uncle's home at the time of the accident. In addition to thanking her family, Guay wants to thank the large team of medical pro- fessionals at Children's Hospi- tal at London Health Sciences Centre in London. While questions remain regarding the recovery of Guay's daugh- ter who is in a coma Guay takes some comfort in know- ing that she is receiving the best in medical care. Nevertheless, Guay and the doctors admit that there is no telling how long it will be before the young girl's condi- tion can be known. As Guay states, "there is so much that doctors still don't know about the human brain." "There is still a long way to go before we have answers," Guay solemnly says, "and not knowing is the hardest part." more specialized in water test- Hessel said. According to Hessel, the two health units are already successfully partnering together on a number of initiatives. The Ministry of Health and Long -Term Care has expressed interest in review- ing public health organiza- tions in Ontario, so Hessel said it is better for them to organically examine an amal- gamation than have the pro- vincial government make the decision for them. Public health unit are funded in partnership by the province and lower -tier municipalities. "It's about a 70/30 split with the province being the major- ity funder. Funding is a histor- ical model and if they (the Ministry) are looking at a model change, we need to be prepared," Hessel said. Hessel stressed that discus- sions are in the "very early stages" and they are not look- ing to change the level of ser- vices provided in either county. He believes that partner- ships between lower -tier municipalities will be become even more prevalent going forward. "I've been advocating that the way of the future is work- ingwith our neighbours," Hes- sel said. He said it doesn't always make sense in duplicating services and working together leads to better decisions for all those involved. "Sometimes the only ones who look at borders are the politicians," Hessel said. County to lease space at Clinton Fire Hall to improve ambulance response times Dave Flaherty QMI Agency The idea of a new EMS base in Seaforth is off the table for now, but ambu- lances will be stationed at the Clinton Fire Hall. At the March 18 commit- tee of the whole meeting, county council accepted a staff recommendation to stick with the current Tuck- ersmith EMS base. Council also followed a recommendation to lease space at the fire hall from Central Huron for an cost of $9,000 per year. County staff indicated in a report that Huron EMS is already being well within in targeted response times under the Canadian Triage OFFICE HOURS The Office Hours for The Clinton News Record are as follows Mondays - 9am - 5pm Tuesdays - CLOSED Wednesdays - 9am - 5pm Thursdays - 9am - 5pm Fridays - 9am - 5pm lowsCli ton Record 53 Albert St., Clinton, ON PH: 519-482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com It Starks with You! www,pltehn. P1TCH41 CANADA! and Acuity Scale (CTAS1) from the Tuckersmith base for calls to Seaforth and spending $1 million or more on a new base would not be a good investment at the current time. The average response time for calls to Seaforth is 5.5 minutes, under the CTAS1 goal of eight minutes. Over the past five years, there has been an annual average of six calls to Seaforth. Of those 30 calls, only 11 per cent didn't meet the tar- geted response times. In comparison, in the same five year period, 37 of 53 calls (62 per cent) to Clin- ton exceeded the eight -min- ute target. The average response time to Clinton calls is seven minutes. Staff have predicted that moving an ambulance to the Clinton Fire Hall will reduce response time to two minutes. A RFP for a new EMS base in Seaforth was sent out ear- lier this year. According to EMS Chief Dave Lew, the highest rated proposal was from PK Con- struction for $1.418 million including $378,000 in assessed lands. This proposal included the renovation of an exist- ing commercial lot in Seaforth. Other tenders of $1.22 million and $1.1 million were received as well, but did not include serviced land costs. Ashfield-Colborne- Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van Diepeenbeek said he couldn't support spending more than $1 million on a new EMS base, stating the data shows that response times are relatively good. Earlier this year, the municipality of Huron East had submitted a proposal to possibly integrate an EMS base into some of its existing facilities, however, Mayor Bernie MacLellan said based on the staff report, "financially it wouldn't make sense to build a new base." He said to him the most important thing is whether they are meeting targeted response times. Central Huron Jim Ginn said it "makes sense" to bring some services to their municipality. litZ4Sothoot SPECIAL Classes: Children Ages 5-7 Ages 8-12 Teens & Adults Starts: Monday, April 6th, 2015 For More Information Call: Ron Tyndall at 482-3634 Email:rontyndall@hotmail.ca