It was not your typical venue in which Mayor Joe Preston was able to meet with constituents.
Thursday morning’s face-to-face with frustrated downtown merchants played out along a back alley that every morning is littered with discarded drug paraphernalia and other detritus of the downtrodden.
It’s a habitat for the homeless and those with mental health issues who utilize back doorsteps and alcoves as personal relief stations.
Hidden from passersby on Talbot Street, it’s where staff often find the less fortunate huddled, unconscious or attempting to harm themselves.
It was against this desperate backdrop that a dozen or so core merchants – already pummelled financially by the pandemic – pleaded with Preston to return this stretch of the downtown corridor to a more inviting destination for shoppers.
Monthly Archives: September 2020
STEGH reports uptick in COVID-19 testing but ‘sufficient capacity’ for anticipated influx
With COVID-19 testing centres in London overwhelmed this week as a result of the Western University outbreak and the province aiming to up the testing across the province to 50,000 per day in short order, what is the status of the assessment centre at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital?
President and CEO Robert Biron says there has been an uptick in the number of daily tests however there is spare capacity at the centre.
Speaking with Biron this week he confirmed, “Yes, we are seeing an influx from a number of sources.
Share this:
Maintain that coronavirus regimen and help support STEGH this fall and winter
Earlier this spring, we referred to them as the other victims of the coronavirus. Those individuals whose lives had been put on hold as their elective surgeries and procedures were postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At that time, the province released details of the framework to be adhered to by hospitals as they prepared to tackle the backlog of surgeries.
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital president and CEO Robert Biron said there was a backlog of well over 1,000 surgeries staff would have to deal with.
Moving forward, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal at the end of August suggested clearing the backlog across the province could take 84 weeks.
Share this:
Strategic priorities map the way forward for St. Thomas
City council returns to its regular meeting schedule as of Tuesday and that includes the reference committee sessions which begin once the 6 p.m. meeting concludes.
Of interest on the reference committee agenda is an update on the city’s strategic plan which was originally adopted by city council in May of 2013.
The city engaged the services of Fanshawe Corporate Training Solutions in June of last year to assist in the plan update.
The idea is to develop a short list of strategic themes for the city’s path forward.
Ian's City Scope 