Month: March 2014

 Peetoo & Meetoo Would like to be adopted together. Miniature poodles, 3-4 yrs, males, not neutered. Possibly French. Obviously two, very well cared for dogs and obviously raised together. These two young gentlemen were strays and although the Shelter has reached out through Facebook and searched various lost online lost dog sites, their owners were not found. They were not wearing tags and not micro-chipped. A reminder of the importance of identification to all pet owners, even those with small dogs that wouldn't  normally leave the home environment.

[…]

The St. Lawrence Parks Commission has been honoured with two events in the list of ‘Top 100 Events in Ontario’ recently named by Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) at their annual conference in Richmond Hill, Ontario.  

Named in the Top Ten honours were Fort Henry’s World Famous Sunset Ceremonies for the ninth time, and Upper Canada Village’s Alight at Night for the fourth time.

 The Top 100 recipients represent festivals and events that excel within the industry.

Fort Henry’s Sunset Ceremonies (Wednesday and Saturday nights during July and August) introduced an exciting new 3-D video technology in 2013.  

The high tech addition provides a multi-dimensional projection onto a wall that animates the Sunset Ceremonies with a series of battle scenes in a way that complements the performance of the Fort Henry Guard never seen before.

“The Sunset Ceremony Series is definitely a favourite event with our visitors, and introducing the new high tech element makes it very exciting for a whole new audience,” says Will Baird, Manger, Fort Henry National Historic Site of Canada.   

Also honoured was Upper Canada Village’s Alight at Night festival which transforms the Village into a spectacular winter wonderland with one million lights on the buildings, fences and trees. Alight at Night is firmly secured as a leisure holiday tradition for visitors and residents to Eastern Ontario in December and early January.

“It is a real honour to receive this recognition from Festivals and Events Ontario for the winter festival Alight at Night,” says Geoff Waycik, Manager, Upper Canada Village. 

“This event has sustained its appeal with visitors for 13 years now, and visitation is as strong as ever.  Events are a very important part of our business mix, and we continue to research and develop new experiences that contribute substantially to the economic health of our community.”

As the winter season comes to an end, preparation for the opening of Upper Canada Village on Wednesday, May 7 gets underway.

[…]

The Canadian Club of Morrisburg and District now has an evenly split year thanks to a 2012 directors decision to have the usual three meetings in the fall and add a meeting in March, to the existing meetings in April and May.   

And so, for those of us who don’t go south,  we can look forward to being entertained at the upcoming March meeting on Wednesday, March 19. 

In March, we will  enjoy a roast pork dinner and then Rev. Dan Hayward will  help shorten the winter we have experienced.  The United Church of South Stormont is where Rev Hayward ministers now.  He will explore the Comedian’s Craft – Behind  the Scenes. His presentation will be light-hearted, insightful and tasteful – and we look forward to seeing you there.

In April, Ron Bennet, president of the  Federation of Agriculture, will look at Canadian agriculture’s contribution to our economy and the World. As usual, we will have a draw for a  3’ x 6’  Canadian Flag–compliments of our local MP Guy Lauzon.  The Legion Branch 48 auxiliary ladies will serve a turkey dinner.

Prime rib will be on the menu  in May.

Our final speaker for the year will be a representative of the Area Crime Prevention program from the SD&G OPP Detachment in Long Sault speaking to the club on Identity Theft, Fraud and Protecting Personal Information.  

Typically, the Canadian Club also has the winner of the Dundas County Public speaking contest speak to us.  The winner will be known in mid April.

Members of the community are invited to join the Canadian Club for any dinner meeting for only $20.

Tickets for the dinner meetings are $20 and should be purchased one week in advance. Members of the community are invited to attend a Canadian Club meeting and tickets can be purchased by calling Clara at 613-774-2407 or Doug at 613-543-2922.

[…]

Local MPP Jim McDonell was quick to react to Winchester District Memorial Hospital’s announced bed closure last week.

Within a few hours of the announcement McDonell issued a press release from Queen’s Park.

“Winchester District Memorial Hospital announced the permanent closure of 14 beds earlier today, which equates to more than 22 per cent of their total capacity,” reads the release. 

The MPP is concerned with the impact this will have on the community. 

“At a time when the senior population of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry has increased and requires access to acute and chronic healthcare, the Government’s funding approach is causing local beds to close,” said MPP McDonell. 

“We have seen the present government slowly and silently eroding the provision of health services. While they may claim to be encouraging home care and other alternative health provisions, they focus more on creating expensive levels of administration and agencies such as Local Health Integration Networks, rather than actually delivering patient services. WDMH provides an essential service in an area that does not have easy access to either the Cornwall area or Ottawa hospitals – their ability to respond to any health situation that may arise is dependent on their capacity.”

 “WDMH is an essential service for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, providing excellent care and stable, local skilled jobs. Enough is enough. The funding cuts that led to this closure are unacceptable and the Minister of Health must be held to account. I have created a petition against the closure of the 14 beds at WDMH, I encourage the community to sign in so that I can present it in the Legislature and show the Minister the terrific support for our highly recognized hospital.  It is available on my website and at my office.”

[…]

February 25, 2014, the Winchester District Memorial Hospital Board of Directors approved a plan to balance the hospital budget for the 2014/2015 fiscal year. Achieving this was more challenging than in years past since, for several years, government funding increases have been much less than increases in expenses.

“Caring for our patients is our number one priority,” notes Lisa Little, Board Chair. “This plan is the result of a collaborative process that involved staff, physicians, volunteers and Board members. Everyone worked together to identify opportunities and provide feedback.”

The plan contains four key elements. 

“We are pleased to report that none of these changes affect patient services and programs. In fact, WDMH is doing more surgeries, providing more cancer care, seeing more outpatients, and admitting more inpatients than ever before,” adds Lisa Little.

WDMH will permanently staff 12 beds on Complex Continuing Care (previously 17) and 25 beds on the Medical/Surgical Unit (previously 34). 

The ECU (Enhanced Care Unit) will also relocate to the second floor, adjacent to the Medical/Surgical Unit. 

“These changes reflect the number of inpatient beds that have been in continuous use over the past year,” notes Cholly Boland, CEO. “WDMH is actually admitting more inpatients than ever before. However, they are staying for less time due to advancements in the practice of medicine, new technologies and additional supports in the community.”

WDMH will be eliminating the equivalent of 9.5 full-time positions in nursing, housekeeping, food services and management. 

“The good news is that no one is losing their job,” adds Cholly Boland. “These changes will be achieved by not filling vacant positions and reducing some part-time hours.”

WDMH will raise the daily parking fee from $2 to $5, and raise the monthly fee from $20 to $25 (for staff and visitors). 

“The WDMH parking rates have remained the same for the past 14 years and WDMH has the lowest hospital parking rates in Eastern Ontario,” explains Cholly Boland. “Proceeds from parking fees are used to support patient care.” This change will take place in late spring.

Finally, a review of all supply budgets is underway. Supplies include almost anything purchased externally such as medical and surgical supplies, heat and electricity, linen and private patient transportation. “Currently, we spend more on supplies than most other similar hospitals and we want to improve that,” says Cholly Boland.

“We are committed to providing the same level of high-quality hospital care and will keep our local communities informed as these changes are implemented,” sums up Lisa Little.

[…]