Monthly Archives: July 2016

07.30.16
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Is jockeying for position underway for the 2018 mayoral race?

city_scope_logo-cmykThe plug has been pulled – at least temporarily – on Mayor Heather Jackson’s vision of a fibre optics network for St. Thomas.

Her plan for a fibre optics information session was voted down in a closed-door meeting on June 20 and Jackson was so infuriated she fired off an email to various players in the business community pointing the finger at councillors Jeff Kohler and Gary Clarke, who put forth the motion that “The Information Session regarding fibre planned for July 19, 2016 be postponed until a date agreeable to Council.”

Council voted 6-2 in favour of the motion.

The cost of such a network would be tens of millions of dollars according to an individual in the know and this may have played a role in council putting the brakes on the mayor’s plans. Continue reading →

07.23.16
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St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital board of governors: a bastion of integrity, honesty and transparency

city_scope_logo-cmykAfter steadfastly refusing last week to allow us access to St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital board of governors chairwoman Melanie Taylor, a change of heart – sort of – this week.

To recap, Coun. Linda Stevenson – the city’s representative on the board of governors – has tendered her resignation over allegations Taylor is attempting to circumvent a CEO salary cap imposed on STEGH and all hospitals in the province in order to make the position more “competitive.”

STEGH administrators won’t cut Taylor loose to respond to Stevenson, instead we are in receipt of a carefully crafted statement from Cathy Crane, vice-chair, on behalf of the STEGH board of governors. Continue reading →

07.16.16
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Why is STEGH shielding board of governors chairperson Melanie Taylor?

city_scope_logo-cmykSix years after the infamous Paul Collins retire/rehire shuffle, administrators at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital find themselves at the centre of another CEO controversy.

Coun. Linda Stevenson – the city’s representative on the board of governors – has tendered her resignation over allegations board chairman Melanie Taylor is attempting to circumvent a CEO salary cap imposed on STEGH and all hospitals in the province in order to make the position more “competitive.”

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to Stevenson, who would like the ministry of health to come in and review the practices of the board of governors. Continue reading →

07.09.16
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Latest STEGH cuts no example of patient-centred care

city_scope_logo-cmykThe latest cuts at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, which will see the lights turned out at the sleep clinic on Oct. 3, is nothing short of a bad dream for the former director of the lab.

Calling the decision to pull the plug on a clinic that saw 940 patients last year “misguided”, Dr. Charles George has sent an open letter to all members of the St. Thomas Elgin Medical Association urging them to make their concerns known.

A copy of Dr. George’s letter was sent our way anonymously in a plain, white envelope.

He notes the sleep clinic opened in the mid-1990s under the direction of Dr. Linda O’Fiara. When she departed for Montreal, Dr. George and Dr. Kathy Ferguson stepped in because, “at the time the clinic was generating revenue for the hospital and the patient volume was increasing.” Continue reading →

07.02.16
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Kenny will be packing potatoes in a higher place

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Surely no one individual has contributed more to the fibre of life in St. Thomas over the past six decades than Ken Verrell.

A compilation of his accomplishments and volunteer work forwarded to me Friday nearly fills two pages and I’m sure others could easily be added to the list.

Kenny died Wednesday afternoon at the age of 89 and where do you begin to document the life of a man who so tirelessly toiled to make this city a better place to live.

We could note he was a founding member of Golden K Kiwanis in 1987; an original founding member of the St. Thomas Curling Club on Parkside Drive; a Past Grand steward of Masonic Lodge 546, St. Thomas; vice-chairman of Crime Stoppers in St. Thomas-Elgin; founding member of the Elgin County Railway Museum; long-time volunteer with Christmas Care; an original director of Pinafore Park Memory Garden Foundation; and president and founding member of the Elgin Photographic Heritage Society, to note just a few highlights. Continue reading →