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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-11-30, Page 8ac ttf 8 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, November 30, 2016 Huron County warns hospice network that council might not have 'appetite' to pay for new beds Darryl Coote Editor Huron County was loud and clear Nov 9 when it told the South West Hospice Pal- liative Care Network (SWH- PCW) that if they are expect- ing the county to help cover the cost for new hospice beds in the region, they should think again. Mary Cardinal and Lisa Penner, leads with the net- work, were updating county council on the progress being made to determine the location for 10 residential hospice beds in Huron -Perth when given the warning. They were also there Wednesday to inform the county of a potential funding model for the beds as well as to encourage the mayors to share the information with their respective municipalities. Several county council- lors, particularly Bluewater mayor Tyler Hessel, saw the presentation as a primer for when they come back in months' time to ask the county to fund the beds. "We'd be naive if we didn't" think the presenta- tion was part of a sales pitch, he said. Huron -Perth has desig- nated by the province to be a high -need area and 10 beds (five for each county) have been allocated as a first step to increase capacity. The province, through Ontario Hospice, will pro- vide $105,000 per bed per LUCKNOW ARENA SCHEDULE NOVEMBER 30TH - DECEMBER 7TH Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:OOam Adults & Tots Skating - $2/Skater 11:OOam Skate & Shoot - $2/ Skater 5:OOpm Initiation/Tyke Practice 6:OOpm PeeWee Rep Practice 7:OOpm Bantam LL Game vs Listowel 8:30pm Legends Practice 9:30pm Rec Hockey - Amberley vs Lagers Fri Dec 2, 2016 10:OOam 11:OOpm 5:OOpm 6:OOpm 7:OOpm 8:30pm 10:10pm Adults & Tots Skating - $2/Skater Skate & Shoot - $2/ Skater Bantam LL Practice PeeWee Girls Rep Practice PeeWee Rep Game vs Minto Midget LL Game vs Mitchell Juvenile Practicee Sun Dec 4, 2016 9:OOam 1 0:30am 1 2:OOpm 1:30pm 3:OOpm 4:30pm 6:OOpm 7:OOpm PeeWee Rep Practice Port Albert Public Skating - Sponsored by Lucknow Kinsmen PeeWee Girls HL Game vs Saugeen Shores Juvenile Game vs Arthur Britespan Rental Midget LL Practice Midget Rep Practice Tue Dec 6, 2016 10:OOam 11:OOam 5:OOpm 6:OOpm 7:OOpm 8:30pm Adults & Tots Skating - $2/Skater Skate & Shoot - $2/ Skater Novice LL Practice Atom LL Practice Midget Girls HL Game vs Saugeen Shores Lancers Practice Thu Dec 1, 2016 10:OOam Adults & Tots Skating - $2/Skater 11:OOpm Skate & Shoot - $2/ Skate 5:OOpm Novice/Atom Practice 6:OOpm Bantam Rep Practice 7:OOpm Midget Girls HL Practice 8:OOpm Rec Hockey - Dirty Byrd vs Kintail 9:30pm Rec Hockey - Saratoga vs Holyroode Sat Dec 3, 2016 9:OOam Lions Novice Tournament 8:OOpm Juvenile Game vs Central Perth Mon Dec 5, 2016 10:OOam Adults & Tots Skating - $2/Skatere 11 :OOam Skate & Shoot - $2/ Skater Novice Rep Practice ICE AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL Bantam Rep Practice Midget Rep Game vs Central Perth 5:OOpm 6:OOpm 7:OOpm 8:30pm HURON TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO-OPERATIVE LTD. 519-395-3800 www.hurontel.on.ca year. However, that leaves about $65,000 a bed a year to come from other sources. "The ministry funding for funded residential hospital beds is about 60 per cent of the operation. So it does come to the community, dif- ferent providers, different stake holders, to provide the other 40 per cent," Cardinal said. Penner then said the may- ors, as community leaders, need to encourage their citi- zenries to support and fund - raise for the service. "You are all here repre- senting municipalities in Huron County, so the expec- tation is you need to come together and this fundraising endeavour needs to come from each and every small community because this is a service that supports your entire county and so at this point and time it is fundrais- ing," she told council. This approach was ques- tioned by ACW Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek as a way for the provincial government to place the burden of cost onto lower -tier administrations. "You can fundraise all you want but at some point they'll be back to these municipalities looking for a donation and we'll be the ones paying the bill at the end of the day," he said. Cardinal addressed this saying that the provincial ministry of health has upped its funding, as can be seen in the 60 per cent. "So, we're being heard," she said. This wasn't good enough for Hessel, who said he is concerned the ministry is "sloughing off" its responsi- bility on to them in order to shore up its financial end. Hessel, who has previ- ously sat on the Clinton hos- pital board, said they were constantly trying to find ways to keep services run- ning and suggested that instead of making residential hospice beds put them in the hospitals. "I'm just throwing it out there because I know how hard the struggle is," he said. He said he understands that their presentation to council wasn't specifically to ask the county for money, but that is what the mayors heard. "I know you are not asking us directly but I can tell you right now the funding that you're asking for as much as you're saying it will come from the lower tiers, it will come from here. And I sus- pect that is why you're here. I'm pulling a punch here, but I think that's the truth," he said. Hessel said he was reluc- tant for Huron to spend the $20,000 in September on the report that will be made available in January suggest- ing where the beds should Huron Health: Now Is the Time to Test for Radon With most windows and doors closed due to the cooler weather, now is a good time for Huron County residents to test for radon. Radon is a colourless, odour- less radioactive gas found natu- rally in the environment Long- term exposure to elevated levels of radon is the second -leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Radon can be found all over Ontario. According to Health Canada, 11% of ran- domly selected homes in Huron County tested above the Canadian Guideline for Radon in 2012. "The only way to know the radon level in your home is to test for it," said Public Health Inspector Chris Boyes. "Fortunately, it's not difficult or expensive to test for radon. Taking appropri- ate measures to reduce radon levels from your home could greatly benefit your health." Radon test kits are availa- ble at most major home ren- ovation stores, or can be pur- chased on-line. Health Canada recommends home- owners do a long-term radon test, for a minimum of three months, during the fall or winter months. To get the most accurate results, the radon detector should be placed in the low- est level of the home where homeowners spend a mini- mum of four hours per day. For more information on radon and radon testing, call the Huron County Health Unit at 1-877-837-6143 or visit huronhealthunit.ca Darryl Coote/Editor SWHPCW lead Mary Cardinal, left, looks on as Lisa Penner, also with SWHPCW, reassures Huron County council that the network is not asking the mayors to fund a significant portion of hospice beds coming to Huron -Perth. be located because he trusts that the South West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) knows what is needed. "I appreciate wanting to fundraise and if the commit- tee wants to do that them- selves, great," he said. "As for looking for funding from the county, it's getting harder and harder to adjust to the ministry asking us to pay 10 per cent, 20 per cent, 40 per cent of the cost." Penner then said that they aren't there to ask for money. Hessel then said but they already have, for the study, and they will be back asking for more again. Huron County CAO Brenda Orchard then asked for clarity on an aspect of the report. She said she was under the impression that the report was seeing if there was capacity for communi- ties to cover the 40 per cent but neither she nor her staff was officially contacted to see what they thought. The concern of the room, Orchard said, is that the pro- vincial government is "downloading" more of its responsibilities on to lower - tier governments, which may not have the ability to pay. She said she was "a little disappointed" no one work- ing on the report contacted them to gauge their "appe- tite" for support or funding. "If there's even a twinkle in your mind that county might be a large part of that funding for that 40 per cent or any part of that funding of the 40 per cent or even 1 per cent of that 40 per cent, nobody asked us during the course of that study. Nobody ... Nobody has asked us," she said. "I'm thinking you shouldn't go away with the assumption that there's maybe an appetite, and there might not be. That's a question for this council." Shared photo Imad Ahdab (centre) recently visited Sacred Heart High School in Walkerton to give talks to the World Religion classes about Islam, Arabic culture, and racism. lmad, a former resident of Bruce -Grey and friend of teacher Samantha Easton (left), has entertained SHHS students for many years with his funny, rich, and sometimes biting commentary on what it's like to be a follower of Islam in a rural area. The students ask for !mad to return every year, and the school looks forward to welcoming him back next semester. Pictured on the right is Yvonne Carol, the school chaplain.