Health Archives — Lindsay Advocate

New Nurse Practitioner begins practice in Fenelon Falls

Published on June 25, 2019 in Health by Lindsay Advocate

The City of Kawartha Lakes Family Health Team has welcomed a new Nurse Practitioner to its team in Fenelon Falls.

Cherisse Young, RN(EC), will begin collaborating with Dr. Bruce Allin, Dr. Kesang Pema, and the team’s family health nurse, Kylie Pankhurst, RN, at the Fenelon Medical Centre on Francis Street East as of July 2nd. A long-time resident of Fenelon Falls, Young comes to the team with almost a decade of experience as a registered nurse in the emergency department at the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay. She holds a Masters of Nursing in Primary Care degree from Athabasca University, having completed her training placements here locally.

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Four citizen heroes honoured by City in ceremony

Published on June 22, 2019 in Community/Health/Municipal by Geoff Coleman

At the June 21 City of Kawartha Lakes Paramedic Recruitment Ceremony, the focus shifted briefly from 11 new recruits to a group of citizens present at an emergency in Cambray. When Ronald Goodhand collapsed from a heart attack at the four corners, citizens took action until the paramedics arrived.

Some directed traffic, some communicated with the 911 operator, some notified family, and one started CPR. Goodhand was revived and transported by ambulance to Ross Memorial Hospital.

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Free memberships for hospital available, complete with voting rights

Published on June 14, 2019 in Health by Joli Scheidler-Benns

Free memberships to Ross Memorial Hospital are now available again for a very short time. Since inception, RMH had public memberships where for a low annual or lifetime cost, people could have a vote on issues related to hospital decisions.

These public memberships were revoked at an AGM meeting on June 21, 2012. At that time, the board and 42 members of the community voted to end this option. Currently voting for issues related to hospital changes are now restricted to the hospital’s board of directors.

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New organization, HERS, ‘Helping End Rural Silence’ on rural, domestic violence

Published on June 4, 2019 in Community/Health by Roderick Benns

HERS: Helping End Rural Silence is a new volunteer outreach group that hopes to raise awareness and start conversations about domestic violence in rural settings.

“While we care about all victims of domestic violence, women in rural areas such as small towns and on farms face specific challenges,” says Paola di Paolo, HERS organizer.

“Domestic violence is not an easy topic to discuss; people who are victims rely on us to talk about it.”

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Advocates for health care anxious about timing of Ross Memorial’s ‘special legislation’

Published on May 24, 2019 in Community/Health/Provincial by Joli Scheidler-Benns

With recent ‘merger memories’ still top of mind, Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition (KLHC) members are alarmed over the future of Ross Memorial Hospital after reading the public notice about new special legislation initiated by Ross near the same time as the passing of the PC’s omnibus Bill 74.

KLHC formed soon after the Lindsay Advocate released a feature analysis last year that showed mergers rarely work out well for the smaller hospital, usually leading to less services offered, and nor do they work well as a cost-saving exercise. A huge community outcry followed and KLHC and its supporters were able to blunt the momentum toward any merger.

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Blame Wynne for some of the doctor shortages Kawartha Lakes is facing

Published on May 12, 2019 in Community/Health by Geoff Coleman

Blame Wynne for some of the doctor shortages that Kawartha Lakes facing

The family doctor shortage in Kawartha Lakes, and the rest of the country, might not be so bad today if the previous provincial Liberal government had done things differently in 2015.

In Ontario, after a medical student graduates, they don’t immediately start a practice. First, they must complete a residency where they train with established physicians for at least two years and up to four years depending on the discipline.

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Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition wonders why Ross making key structural changes

Published on May 10, 2019 in Health by Lindsay Advocate

From the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition

On April 18 this year The Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) posted a notice in the legal section of the weekly Metroland corporate newspaper. The notice stated that the hospital will apply to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to enact special legislation to change its name to “Ross Memorial Hospital” (dropping “the”), as well as “change its objects, its powers, the composition of its board and membership, and to repeal certain existing Acts.”

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Game on! Wards Lawyers Kids’ Road Hockey Tournament might be Canada’s biggest

Published on May 10, 2019 in Community/Health by Jamie Morris

What could be more Canadian than a road hockey game? Well, how about a tournament with no fewer than 12 road hockey rinks and games running all day?

The Wards Lawyers Kids’ Road Hockey Tournament in support of youth mental health is set for Sunday, May 26. According to lawyer and organizer Jason Ward it will probably be the nation’s largest kids’ road hockey tournament.

All that will be missing when it gets underway at 8 am will be game-pausing cries of “Car!” (Kent Street, from Cambridge to York, will be closed to traffic for the event.)

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Bobcaygeon doctor strikes with other community members against PC cuts

Published on May 9, 2019 in Health/Poverty Reduction by Asa Coleman

When Ontarians from all walks of life took part in a ‘general strike’ to oppose cuts made by the PC government under Premier Doug Ford recently, Dr. Steve Oldridge of the Bobcaygeon Medical Centre was among them.

The physician is a champion for rural health care and the Ontario Basic Income Pilot program quashed by Ford’s government.

“With the rising gap between minimum wage and the living wage, you have a situation where people can’t afford to eat,” Oldridge says. “Poverty is the greatest determinant of health.”

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New doctor at Omemee Medical Centre; chose CKL after training here

Published on May 7, 2019 in Community/Health by Lindsay Advocate

The Kawartha Lakes Health Care Initiative (KLHCI) and Omemee Medical Centre are pleased to announce a new doctor for City of Kawartha Lakes. Dr. Satvir Sahans will be joining the Omemee clinic, as of August 1.

Sahans attended Simon Fraser University in British Columbia for his Bachelor of Science Degree. He completed his Medical Degree at the University of Queensland in 2015 and Family Medicine Residency at the University of Toronto in 2018. Sahans will be accepting new patients through Health Care Connect. If you are not currently registered with Health Care Connect please contact them directly at 1-800-445-1822 or www.ontario.ca/healthcareconnect.