October 31 The letter to the Editor in the Chatham Daily News wriiten by Wm P. Magee from Chatham NEEDS a strong reaction from all citizens of the Sydenham Hospital catchment area. A personal attack on Jeff and a direct attack of SOS and Sydenham Hospital is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Feel free to write your own reaction and send it as a letter to the Editor of the Chatham Daily News or email your reaction to Magee's letter to sos@saveoursydenham.com with your permission to print your letter on our SOS Website. Conrad SOS Website Coordinator & SOS Vice-Chair. _________________________________________________________________________ October 31
Jim Hasson's response to Wm P. Magee's numerous inaccurate statements
I appreciate this opportunity to clarify a number of incorrect statements made by William Magee in his recent letter to the editor (“Editorial criticizing CKHA CEO off the mark”, The Chatham Daily News, October 31).
Mr. Tremblay has most certainly lost the trust and will of the dozens of rural communities that encompass the SDH catchment area. A public rally at Mr. Tremblay’s office on March 20 that included 180 vehicles and 600 citizens is just one of many examples of the public’s outrage at the ongoing service cuts that have occurred at SDH under Mr. Tremblay’s watch– scarcely a “small group in Wallaceburg and North Kent”. Mr. Tremblay and senior administrators of the CKHA were included on the protest tour because of the CHKA commissioned Deloitte report that recommended the removal of the remaining 20 medicine beds, downgrading of the ED to an urgent care centre and other service cutbacks. SDH has a 16.7% partnership in the CKHA and were once again expected to absorb over 50% of the cuts required to deal with a CKHA budget shortfall of nearly $4 million. To state that SDH has “insufficient staff and back-up resources to properly treat patients” in the medical beds is uninformed. In fact, the unit was fully staffed - although resources and support services have been slowly taken from Wallaceburg and moved to Chatham over the years under Mr. Tremblay’s tutelage. While many rural hospitals across Ontario are being forced have periodic closures of their emergency rooms due to physician and nursing shortages, the SDH ED remains open because coveted medical professionals choose to work at the Sydenham campus. To state that emergency responders do not stop at the SDH ED but go directly to Chatham because staff are unable to provide medical intervention is also inaccurate. SDH has a full service 24 hours per day ER and it is illegal for EMS to by-pass an ER with a critical patient. The physicians and nurses at SDH hold the same credentials as their Chatham colleagues. On many occasions the Chatham campus of the CKHA requests that emergency responders divert non-critical patients to Wallaceburg from Chatham when they are unable to accept more ambulances. To imply that Mr. Wesley’s community leadership on the SDH effort is politically motivated is offensive to the thousands of SDH supports and community volunteers in general. While the Liberal Party of Canada has selected candidates in most every federal riding in Canada, Mr. Wesley has not accepted the nomination in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and has even spoken at Queen’s Park criticizing the current Liberal government on rural health care policy. Community efforts to Save Our Sydenham have been effective because people have accepted ownership of the hospital that they built and continue to support. They have been truthful, honest and transparent and are looking forward to working with a future CKHA CEO who uses a similar approach. While I respect Mr. Magee’s opinions I did feel that his numerous inaccurate statements require a response. Jim Hasson Wallaceburg__________________________________________________________________________________ EDITORIAL CRITICIZING CKHA CEO OFF THE MARK Sir:I read Bruce Corcoran's editorial "Timing's right for CKHA boss's departure" in the Sept. 29 Chatham Daily News about Ken Tremblay, and I am surprised the publisher would allow such a shabby piece of journalism to be published. He starts with the innuendo that Mr. Tremblay had to leave the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) because he has lost the "trust and will" of the community. This is absolutely false. The only people who questioned his leadership are the small group in Wallaceburg and North Kent who are members of Jeff Wesley's lobby group SOS (Save Our Sydenham). The remainder of the people in Chatham-Kent recognize the fine job he has done as CEO of CKHA. The truth of the matter was that Mr. Tremblay had nothing to do with the recommendation to close the emergency room at the Sydenham Campus of the CKHA. This was made in the Hay Report commissioned by the Erie-St. Clair LHIN. A decision to close the ER would have to be made by that LHIN (Local Health Integration Network). The LHIN decided to defer any action on the ER until a report comes from a Ministry of Health panel studying small hospitals in small communities throughout Ontario. Mr. Corcoran goes on to attack the decision of the CKHA to remove 20 medicine beds from Sydenham. The truth of the matter was that Sydenham had insufficient staff and back-up resources to properly treat patients in those beds. Many people don't know that to staff the ER, the CKHA had to hire a recruiting service to bring in ER doctors from out of town (even as far away as Toronto) and pay them a premium remuneration to get them to come. Most people also do not know that the emergency response (ambulance) teams that serve Wallaceburg and North Kent, after picking up a patient in distress who has called 911, do not even bother to stop at the ER, but go directly to the emergency department at CKHA as they know the staff available at the ER are unable to provide the medical intervention which the patient requires. Mr. Corcoran comments on the negative effects on the staff and the community, of the decision of Mr. Tremblay to remove the outstanding deficit at CKHA. But he fails to mention that the deficit removal was mandated by the Ministry of Health. Time will tell whether Mr. Wesley formed the SOS as a legitimate lobby group to retain the ER or whether he saw it as an opportunity to advance his own political ambitions. Mr. Corcoran has made these allegations against one of the most able and effective hospital administrators Chatham-Kent has ever been privileged to have. -- William P. Magee Chatham _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Sept. 29
Timing right for CKHA boss's departure point of view Posted By BRUCE CORCORAN BCORCORAN@CHATHAMDAILYNEWS.CA Chances are few people in Wallaceburg will shed a tear when the rotating door at Chatham campus of the health alliance taps Ken Tremblay on the butt in January. Tremblay, CEO, president and generalissimo of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, leaves at the end of January 2010 to take a similar position with the Peterborough Regional Health Centre. Whether or not you like Tremblay's work here, the reality is he had to go. He'd lost the trust of the community. He was an administrative dead man walking as a result. The noose slipped around his neck as soon as the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) released its deeply flawed Hay Report which recommended the closure of three rural hospitals in the LHIN's region; hospitals serving Petrolia, Leamington and Wallaceburg. Tremblay and the alliance's silence on the issue spoke volumes. The noose tightened over a PR fiasco this summer when a hired consulting firm looked to dig up dirt on Save Our Sydenham (SOS) leader Jeff Wesley. A Veritas Communications staffer contacted the staff of MP Bev Shipley, who faced off against Wesley in past elections, seeking "any research that may be revealing or insightful for our purposes" on Wesley. Someone sent the consultant staffer on a dirt quest. Whether or not Tremblay had any involvement is moot. It happened on his watch. As the Hay report came out, the alliance announced it was removing 20 medicine beds from the Sydenham campus in Wallaceburg -sending 10 to Chatham and spiking the others. Emergency rooms aren't much good without medicine beds to back them up. The resulting groundswell of animosity from these announcements hammered away at the alliance and the LHIN. Wesley took over as chair of SOS, and channeled the animosity to very effectively protest the proposed changes to Sydenham campus. Wesley became a huge thorn in both the LHIN's and the alliance's sides. But he was the focused tip of the will of the people. And that's what Tremblay lost touch with, if he ever had it: the will of the people. As president and CEO of the CKHA, Tremblay is very effective at trimming hospital budgets to the point of going from red to black. Admittedly, this is no easy task. This efficiency earned Tremblay respect and recognition elsewhere in Ontario. At the start of this year, he was tasked to conduct a third-party review of proposed financial solutions for Quinte Health Care, part of the South East LHIN. And then Peterborough came knocking. Unfortunately, he and the CKHA have made decisions with too little thought how cost cutting could impact the communities. Cutting for the sake of shaving dollars out of a budget is viewing matters in pure dollars and cents. Be it in the public or private sector, such pencil-pushing work and disregard for the impact on savings only undermines the public's trust in said company's ability to care for its users and deliver its products. Article ID# 1773067 Sept. 15, 2009
- Welland
Region calls for Caplan to place moratorium on NHS hospital changes; Regional council is calling on Health Minister David Caplan to halt restructuring at Douglas Memorial Hospital and to turn back the conversion of the Port Colborne emergency room. On Thursday night, Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin brought forward a resolution which was presented to his council by the Ontario Health Coalition asking that a moratorium be called to halt restructuring of Niagara Health System's Fort Erie hospital that will lose its emergency room to be converted into an urgent care centre on Sept. 22. The resolution further asked that changes at Port Colborne hospital be reversed so it, too, can maintain an emergency room until after the ministry's Northern and Rural Health Care Panel has had the opportunity to review health care in the province and its small, rural communities. Regional Chair Peter Partington said the resolution originally asked for a moratorium to halt all major health-care restructuring, a section which was removed. "Council wanted to show support for the position in Fort Erie and Port Colborne, the part with respect to across Ontario, council didn't want to stop any work," he said. Partington said up until this point, the issue hasn't been something regional council has really "engaged in debate" about. Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey said the community did try to get a similar motion passed by the region before the Port Colborne conversion of its e m e rg e n c y room to an urgent care centre, but it didn't garner support of politicians at the table. "Quite frankly, we recognize that they made a mistake," said Badawey with regards to Niagara Health System's hospital improvement plan. The problem, he said, is that this is direction from the ministry, that filters down to the Local Health Integration Networks then to the hospital system. Cuts to health-care services is something being seen in a number of small communities, resulting in a two-tiered system in the province, he said. Badawey said other hospitals are seeing gridlock, overcrowded emergency rooms and longer offload delays for ambulances. It's not a coincidence, he said. That's why Port Colborne is moving ahead with more community- based health-care services, a strategy developed in consultation with the medical community and the public, he said -- a strategy that could be a leading example of enhanced health care for small and rural communities that the ministry's panel may find of use. "We're hoping the minister in his due diligence with the panel will recognize we've already done the work for him," Badawey said. "And that he'll re-look at the direction given to the LHINS ... and start putting together a health system that is relevant for the community and community needs. It's so important for him to stand down, stand back, and quite frankly, listen." © 2009 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights reserved.Sept.8
This URL contains a document that details the pitfalls of rural hospital closures from the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada. You can download it or read it online. The URL is http://www.srpc.ca/librarydocs/H_closures_2009.pdf. Conrad Vice Chair SOS July 28
News ReleaseNew Board of Directors Slate Elected for SDHWALLACEBURG, ON -- At today’s continuation of the Annual General Meeting of Sydenham District Hospital, the following slate was elected as the Board of Directors for 2009-2010: Kurtina Hammerlein, Jim Laforet, Leah McArthur, Brian Slack, Paul Weese, and Wendy Weston. One vacancy is being held for representation from Walpole Island First Nations, expected to be filled in September. Randy Smith was appointed to the Board as a community representative. The new slate was presented when members, at an earlier meeting held June 30th, voted down the initial slate. Following discussions with those who spoke to the earlier election, the Joint Nominating Committee of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance proposed a revised slate to accommodate a larger proportion of Board representatives from the Wallaceburg community. An estimated 60 members attended the meeting. The above members are joined by members an ex-officio capacity: Following the AGM, the new Board met to elect its Officers with the following results: The three hospital Boards govern as a Tri-Board -- focusing on strategic planning, Mission Vision and Values, quality and performance monitoring, financial and management oversight, risk identification and oversight, stakeholder communication and accountability, governance and legal compliance. Board nominations are made through an open advertisement process by a Joint Nominating Committee and confirmed at the Annual General Meetings. For more information about the Boards of Directors, Tri-Board meeting dates, or to view "Board Highlights" published after each monthly meeting, go to the Alliance’s website, www.ckha.on.ca and click on "Directors". Kurtina Hammerlein, Past Chair said, "We are pleased that we were able to elect a slate and continue with the important work of the Board within the Alliance structure. This year, we will be faced with ongoing financial pressures, the Province’s report from a panel on small hospitals, the redevelopment plans for the site and ongoing changes mandated by the Government and LHIN. However, I am confident in our new Board Executive leadership and look forward to working closely with them." Media Contacts: President and CEO, CKHA July 28
TORONTO, July 28 /CNW/ - Today, Ontario's doctors called on the provincial government to place a moratorium on major health care restructuring decisions until a recently appointed government panel reports its findings and makes recommendations. This past spring, the government announced the establishment of the Rural and Northern Health Care Panel. The panel has been asked to recommend steps the government can take to improve access to health care in rural and northern Ontario. "We are pleased that the government has acknowledged they are concerned about major decisions being made by hospitals and LHINs in their communities, and asked a panel of experts to do a review and make recommendations," said Dr. Suzanne Strasberg, President of the Ontario Medical Association. "It's only reasonable that while they are completing this important work the government order LHINs and hospitals in rural and Northern communities to put a hold on major restructuring of health care services. The OMA presented to the Minister's Panel this week and provided a number of recommendations for their consideration. Specifically, the OMA called for a formal consultation process to be put in place that would be followed by LHINs and hospitals to ensure that the public, physicians and other health care providers are properly consulted before any decision is made regarding services or service delivery. The OMA believes that the public, physicians and other health care providers should be key participants in making decisions that are having a significant impact on health care delivery in communities across the province. "Physicians and the public need to be properly consulted before major health care decisions are made in their communities." said Dr. Strasberg. "Physicians can provide valuable input that will help ensure that decisions are being made without compromising quality and timely access to health care services. A recent poll by the OMA confirms that patients want physicians involved in regional health care decision-making. For example: - 60% of patients trust doctors most to provide input into planning, funding and integrating health care services locally; - 92% of patients agree that doctors in their community should be consulted thoroughly before any changes are made to their health care services; and - 70% of patients support a moratorium on major health care restructuring until the government panel reports and makes recommendations. In addition, the OMA also asked that the Rural and Northern health care strategy formally recognize the differing health care needs in isolated and rural communities; and that wherever possible, health care services in communities of similar size should be similar. "Patients and communities should be top-of-mind when decisions that impact services and service delivery are being made," said Dr. Strasberg. "Being on the front lines, physicians know first-hand how important readily accessible health care services can have a long-lasting positive impact on the strength, prosperity and economic well-being of a community. For further information: OMA Media Relations, (416) 340-2862 or toll-free at 1-800-268-7215 ext. 2862 Copyright © 2009 Chatham Daily News ________ July 21 Louise O writes the following message to Contact Us on SOS Website I would like to write to you about my last experience in CKSA St. Joseph campus. I was sent by ambulance for a low blood sugar seizure. When they hooked me up to the heart monitors they noticed that I had a left branch bundle block. They sent me by ambulance to Chatham campus, to ICU at my refusal of cource. With no ICU in Wallaceburg I had no choice. After being there for 1 day, I was sent to PCU, a private room. They were going to order a stress test and maybe go to London for an angioplasti. I was in PCU for one more day, so in Chatham for a total of 2 days. I got a note from administration asking me what coverage I had, or they would send me a bill. I called them back and let them know that I had regular OHIP. They cancelled my stress test, and my trip to London or did not order it at all. They sent me home. That day I was not right. Walking to tables, walls, light headedness, I mentioned to my nurse about it. They sent me home anyway.
That night, my husband noticed that I was not right. He called the heath network They told him to call me an ambulance. He give my a ride to Wallaceburg, and admitted me right away. I did not have to wait. I refuse to go to Chatham campus it will be a cold day in hell before I go again. Thank You Louise Ouellette You can submit this to the paper SOS editorial; What will life be like at Sydenham Hospital after the second floor closes on July 27th with only 5 beds on the 3rd floor? What will it be like for Sydenham patients when these 5 beds are full and no rooms available in Chatham? Not a pleasant thought. July 15 Copyright © 2009 Chatham Daily News City folks don't understand rural Ontario I'm a small-town kid. Always have been, always will be. And it's just the way I like it. Born in a town of 20,000 in northwestern Quebec, Val D'Or, I did my high school years in North Bay, population 50,000. Read more July 9 -- Trish Douma Regional Director for the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC)CAN'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ Dear Sir: It was with both surprise and disappointment that I read the recent announcement that the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance has clawed its way back to a financial surplus, after only six months ago informing the public of a $6-million deficit. As a representative of the union that represents over 400 of the Alliance's employees, I have to shake my head when reading that Mr. Tremblay credits factors such as the recommendations of the Deloitte Report, variable staffing patterns and absenteeism management for bringing finances into line. Read More __________________________________________________________________________________________ Jul;y 6, 2009 Jeff Wesley responded with a letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Minister of Health and Long Term Care David Caplan demanding answers. Premier Dalton McGuinty Hon. David Caplan Queen’s Park Queen’s Park Toronto Toronto (Via Fax) (Via Fax) Dear Premier and Mr. Minister: Over the weekend as my wife and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary and hosted an event for our son and soon to be daughter-in-law we were very troubled by what had come to our attention just a few days earlier. As the volunteer and unpaid chairperson of the Save Our Sydenham Committee (S.O.S.) I was contacted by the office of our local MP Bev Shipley (a conservative MP and long time political opponent of mine) and provided with the attached email string. It is nice to see that integrity still exists in some political circles. According to an email (copy attached) from Karl Baldauf, a Senior Consultant with Toronto based Veritas Communications, they are working with “an organization in the Chatham area that is coming up against some stiff opposition from the Lib candidate that ran in your riding” (the only organizations that would fit this description are the Chatham Kent Health Alliance and the Erie St.Clair LHIN). The email continues on and asks this particular political opponent if they have any “research that may be revealing or insightful for our purposes”. Hard earned taxpayer dollars used to try and discredit a volunteer community activist? This would be an extreme misuse of taxpayer dollars and offensive to the scores of dedicated and selfless volunteers working to save our emergency department and our hospital. My request is simple. I am requesting the Minster of Health conduct an investigation to determine:
3. Who was the client? 4. Who else, besides the local MP, was contacted? 5. Is this an acceptable type of activity for taxpayer funded organizations? 6. If what we suspect is true what discipline was meted to those responsible?
The good of the countless volunteers in our society and the proper use of taxpayer dollars demands an investigation be conducted. Jeff Wesley Chairperson, Save Our Sydenham Committee
Cc: Maria Van Bommel MPP Pat Hoy MPP Tim Hudak MPP Andrea Horwath MPP Bob Bailley MPP Erie St.Clair LHIN Board Members CKHA Tri-Board Chairpersons SOS Membership July 2 Members of SDH Corporation decline appointment of nominated Directors
(WALLACEBURG) Members of the Sydenham District Hospital (SDH) Corporation declined the slate of Directors presented by the nominating committee at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) annual general meeting on Tuesday.
Although many of the nominees had widespread support, not all were perceived as the most capable candidates to promote the purposes of the corporation and the interests of the community. The existingrules allowed members to either approve or decline the entire slate of nominated Directors and not individual nominees.
In March, 220 members were recruited on a one day membership drive and several volunteered to be nominated for board positions.
Many of the newly recruited members of SDH corporation feel that the most capable will step forward and let their names stand for nomination, but only if they are given enough time to apply for membership, complete the nomination forms and submit them to the nomination committee for consideration.
SDH corporation member and Save Our Sydenham (SOS) chair Jeff Wesley commented before the vote that many community minded members believe the Directors should live in the SDH catchment area, be a users of SDH services and not only support the CKHA and the other members of the Tri-Board - but also SDH.
“We realize that our actions today will probably mean that existing Directors will remain in place. However, in due course and in adherence to all of the rules we will be nominating a top notch slate of Directors,” said Wesley.
The SDH members await word from the SDH Board as to when a call for nominations will be re-opened and an acceptable slate of board members can be nominated.
SOS Committee June 17  Dear SDH Supporters: The SOS Committee felt that an update to the supporters of SDH, given recent events, was in order. The battle to save our ER and in fact SDH is not over. There may be a bit of a reprieve at the moment but it is far from over. The Province of Ontario announced the creation of a Northern and Rural Health Care panel to look into and report back on rural and northern health care issues (the SOS Committee nominated me to sit on this panel but I am not overly optimistic that the Province will do so). This panel is still in the preliminary stages and quite frankly we are not sure if this is just another way to try and close our ER or if this panel will truly look to find ways to maintain proper health care in our communities. We will certainly keep a very watchful eye on them. As a result of the creation of this panel the Province and the LHIN stated that no decision on our ER would be made until this panel completes their work and reports back to the Province. This report is anticipated by the end of 2009. This may not be the five year reprieve that is needed but it is a welcome delay none the less. Another unfortunate reality that we discovered is that the Province of Ontario and the LHIN are not properly funding our local hospitals and until proper funding is in place the required improvements needed at SDH will be delayed. While the CKHA Board members are working with us and this is a welcome change there remain staff members of the CKHA who still do not appreciate the importance of an ER or SDH to our communities. This remains an ongoing challenge. Rest assured that SOS is still here, we are well funded as a result of the generous support of all SDH supporters and we will be watching developments with SDH on a day to day basis. SOS is ready to spring to action at a moment’s notice and we only ask that all of you answer that call to action when it comes. Personally, I am in this for the long haul and I will not run in any upcoming election as I am totally committed to SDH and our ER. Your support has been absolutely key to our success and together we can win this one. SOS will provide periodic updates as events unfold. Please watch for future letters to the editor and also check out the SOS website at www.saveoursydenham.com. A very sincere thank you to all of the donors (money, time and food), protest participants, phone callers and of course our doctors, nurses and staff at SDH. Sincerely, Jeff Wesley Chairperson – SOS June 5 The Battle May Range Once More in Wallaceburg by Bruce Corcoran, Chatham Daily News Read more June 2 SOS had nominated Jeff Wesley to the Provincial Rural and Northern Health Care Panel. SOS also asked Maria Van Bommel, M.P.P. to support our nomination. This is her response. Dear Conrad;
Please assure SOS that all names put forward are being considered by the Ministry and no decisions concerning the compilation of the Panel have yet been determined. Also, in speaking with the Minister, he advised that the mandate of the panel is still being worked out. You can also assure your members that I am advocating to ensure there is "rural" representation on the panel.
Sincerely,
Maria Van Bommel, M.P.P. Lambton-Kent-Middlesex 29 May ERIE ST. CLAIR LHIN DEFERS ED STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS At their meeting on Tuesday, May 26, in Petrolia, the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (ESC LHIN) Board of Directors decided to not proceed with receiving recommendations on the Small Community Hospital Emergency Department Study from LHIN staff in June. The decision was reached after the Board determined it would prefer to wait until after the provincial Rural and Northern Health Care Panel completed its work before receiving recommendations from staff. Regards, Zoja Holman, Senior Community Engagement Consultant, Erie St. Clair LHIN May 15 Fort Erie: Three Arrested, Including Doctor for Protesting Closure of Hospital Services  May 15 Craby Joe's Staff promote SOS identification by wearing Scrubs with SOS Logo. Sean Moore, Manager of Craby Joe's, 65 McNaughton , Wallaceburg initiates colourful scrubs for his staff. Mellissa and Angela's scrubs have a large SOS design on the back and smaller SOS on the front. Sean has offered to sell the scrubs and all profits will be donated to SOS. To order, click here May 8 Sydenham Hospital ER Nurses Information Road Show.  May 7 A Sincere, Honest & Compassionate Message to All of You.  Read more May 5 SOS initiates online petition to David Caplan, Minister of Health and Long Term Care Your personal comments are appreciated. If you can, provide personal examples as to why SDH ER must remain open. Click here to sign petition. May 5 Letter to David Caplan, Minister of Health and Long Term Care Re: Sydenham District Hospital Emergency Department ("SDH")- Wallaceburg Read more May 4 Sydenham District hospital lifeline of community  May 2 Snail's pace progress through Chatham ER  Recently my daughter-in- law went to the Chatham hospital "emergency" and had to wait 10 hours -- 4 p. m. until 2 a. m. -- for "emergency" care. She wanted to get a tetanus shot. She had a split thumb which required stitches and a chipped bone. Read more May 2 Put the money where it's needed  Read more Read more Jeff Wesley's Speech at Queens Park April 29th.  Read more April 29th Jeff Wesley reports from the Protest Bus  Read more April 28th  April 26 Dr. John Lister speaks in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Re: REASONS TO KEEP ERs OPEN IN RURAL AREAS Read more Click on link to hear Dr. Lister's message Click here to see video April 25 Patient refused medical care in London A Lambton County woman is outraged that her late husband was refused medical care at a London hospital because he was from out-of-town. Read more April 24th A special Thank You for the donations in kind for the fundraiser on Friday from: Dr. John Lister speaks in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Re: REASONS TO KEEP ERs OPEN IN RURAL AREAS Click here to see video of Dr. Lister's message April 25 Patient refused medical care in London A Lambton County woman is outraged that her late husband was refused medical care at a London hospital because he was from out-of-town. Read more April 24 SOS BBQ /Fundraiser was a fantastic success. $1661.16 was collected at the BBQ. Even though SOS was asking for a 2.00 donation, many, many gave $20.00 , $ 10.00. What a community! Special thanks to the Cookhouse (Mark Childs) for his generous donation of hotdogs and other items valued @ $250.00 April 22 SOS Chair Jeff Wesley sends this message:" And we hope that you hear our message" Dear Premier McGuinty,Minster of Health David Caplan, MPP Maria Van Bommel, MPP Pat Hoy, LHIN CEO Gary Switzer, All LHIN Board Members and CKHA CEO Ken Tremblay: Local rural health care does matter and the community served by Sydenham District Hospital is not going away. The Save Our Sydenham Committee (better known as SOS) is holding a BBQ fundraiser this Friday (every item we need has been donated). Scott Ewing, a local business person put out a donation challenge this morning, via email at 11:17 pm and within about 2 hours raised over $ 4,500 to support not only our hospital and the efforts of SOS but also to provide free bus transportation to the health care rally being held on April 29th at the Ontario Legislature. We look forward to seeing you and we hope that you hear our message. Jeff Wesley Chairperson SOS Committee April 17 SOS Chairperson Jeff Wesley replies to Queen`s Park column I certainly take exception to the Minister stating that the LHINs represent local people in local communities making health care decisions. I have been a member of the liberal party for over 25 years and believe me when they "staffed" the LHINs with board members there were very careful to put in people they could count on. Read more |
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