Cruisin’ for a cause

On November 16th, Cholly Boland, CEO for Winchester District Memorial Hospital (WDMH), spoke with reporters, giving updates on what is happening at the local hospital.

He told reporters that there’s “a lot of things we do that are worthy of note.”

“We are in the process of developing a research initiative.”

In addition, “we have academic programs and placement programs for everything possible,” said Boland. He reported talking to many students at the University of Ottawa as well as the Elizabeth Bruyere Institute.

He said WDMH has “nurses and doctors at every stage of their training. We have two medical residents.”

Boland is also trying to attract administration students to the hospital through visits to the University of Ottawa.

He said the “backbone” of the hospital is technology, where computerization and the full implementation of patient information will allow all departments to be “connected with one source of communication.”

Boland believes that the health professional’s “biggest tool is information.” 

Having a patient’s information all stored in one location that’s easily accessible to all health care professionals is “really invaluable. It’s really going to move us ahead.”

Boland also talked about working in conjunction with the Ottawa Hospital “to bring more services (like surgery) here and,” he continued, “helping Ottawa, which is a bottleneck” with lengthy emergency room wait times. 

The integration of Dundas Manor with the hospital is expected to be “concluded some time  early next year, subject to the government giving us final approval.”

As for the controversy over the purchase of Dundas Manor, Boland said, “the owners of Dundas Manor were looking for a buyer and they could have picked anyone. We’re a public organization. We’re all about health care.”

“None of the money will go to profit; it will all be reinvested.”

According to Boland, “the first driving force is  to provide quality healthcare.”

“We do some really progressive senior services care here.” 

[…]

 

The Cornwall office of the Heart and Stroke Foundation is currently recruiting teams to participate in Morrisburg’s annual Big Bike event taking place at the Canadian Tire parking lot on Monday April 30th.

Local organizations are invited to help ‘Take a Seat to Extend a Life’ by getting a team of 29 together to ride a 2km route in their community on Canada’s only 30 seat bike! 

“This fun, team-building event is a great opportunity to increase employee morale and your organization’s visibility in the community!”

“Each participating organization’s name will be prominently displayed on the front of the Big Bike during their head-turning ride. Teams can choose a ride time that works best for their organization, during or after business hours,” said Lynne Groulx, area coordinator of the Cornwall office of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. 

The 15 to 20 minute ride is open to all fitness levels ages 14 and up. Canadian Tire, who has supported this event for the last two years, will once again be our host site. Each rider is asked to raise a minimum pledge of $50 to participate, although most riders collect more to earn great prizes. High school students can help out also and earn volunteer hours.

Lynne Groulx explained that, “while spring may seem far off, we register teams now so that organizations have plenty of time to recruit riders for their team.”

“To register, an organization just needs someone who is willing to be the team captain.” All the necessary promotional materials the captain needs to recruit the 28 other riders will be provided by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Aside from companies, service and fitness clubs, teams can also be made up of family, friends, and neighbours. This is a great way to honour someone you love since heart disease and stroke take one in three Canadians before their time!  

There are only 20 spots still open for our 6:00 p.m. ride. Join the following participating organizations who have already registered: Community Living, Beaver Dental, RBC, Scotia Bank, Canadian Tire.

Every seven minutes a Canadian dies from heart disease or stroke. It remains the leading cause of death in Canada. Events like Big Bike allow the foundation to continue funding world-class heart disease and stroke research, advocacy, and health promotion that is improving the lives of all Canadians. 

Last year, Morrisburg’s Big Bike raised over $6,500. What an incredible contribution to the important work the Heart and Stroke Foundation does! 

Donor dollars have resulted in the placement of 20 life saving Automated External Defibrillators in public spaces throughout Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.

Register today to put your organization in the spotlight! 

[…]

 

The possibility of a level three drought remains close, in the opinion of South Nation Conservation Authority officials.

The SNC examines triggers such as rainfall and stream flow along with other factors to form that opinion. However, it is up to the province to declare a level three drought.

There is the possibility of some rain, according to the latest forecasts. 

“Any rain that we do get helps somewhat, but what we need is a long duration of low intensity rain,” says Jason Symington, SNC environmental technician. He explained that the higher intensity rainfalls, which we have experienced tend to run off, rather than soak in to the ground.

Later this week the water response team, which is made up of stakeholders from business and industry, including the agricultural sector, the Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and municipalities will meet to discuss and record any low water issues they are experiencing.

As of Tuesday morning, no dry wells have been reported in South Dundas. SNC is still asking that anyone experiencing water-related issues contact them a 1-877-984-2948.

After the meeting of the water response team, if necessary, the SNC can make a recommendation to the province to up the drought level to a level three, which can determine further water restrictions above the 20 percent conservation that people are now being asked to do under the level two conditions.

In the meantime, PC politicians, including Stormont, Dundas, South Glengarry MPP Jim McDonell, met in Ottawa Monday, calling on the McGuinty government to take action to help Ontario farmers who have been hit hard by the drought.

Tuesday, Ted McMeekin, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs toured farms in eastern Ontario. 

Ontario has asked Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to join with the province in an assessment of support options for livestock producers affected by dry weather through the AgriRecovery framework – a disaster relief program for farms.

McMeekin called on the federal government to accelerate tax relief for livestock producers in affected regions through the identification of Prescribed Drought Regions.

Ontario is committing that farmers in Prescribed Drought Regions will be protected from reductions in their AgriStability coverage if they are:

• Experiencing challenges from the lack of rain and dry conditions.

• Forced to sell breeding stock due to hay and pasture shortages.

[…]