Seems the PM just can’t get enough of St. Thomas.
For the second time in just over a month, Justin Trudeau dropped into the city Thursday afternoon for a quick lunch at Legends Tavern and then a stop at The Atrium for a sit-down session with local small business entrepreneurs before a quick jaunt over to Streamliner’s to greet customers.
Of course, Trudeau was on hand at the Elgin County Railway Museum at the end of April for the announcement Volkswagen, through its subsidiary PowerCo, had chosen St. Thomas as the home of its first EV battery gigaplant in North America.
Ostensibly this trip to the Railway City was to play up the economic benefits to small business owners after the massive battery facility opens in 2027.
Mayor Joe Preston joined Trudeau for the short walk from Legends to The Atrium and both appeared in high spirits with shirt sleeves rolled up the PM’s trademark down-to-business look.
Monthly Archives: May 2023
Hospice of Elgin – ‘No longer is hospice a place for just final moments’
Following Monday’s (May 15) council session, there was a public meeting to deal with draft official plan and zoning bylaw amendments.
Now normally these are pretty cut-and-dried affairs, usually devoid of colour.
Not in this case.
The meeting dealt with amendments required at the site of Hospice of Elgin, located at the top of the hill overlooking Waterworks Park.
Part of the meeting was devoted to a short presentation from Laura Sherwood, representing Hospice of Elgin.
Through several visuals, we were able to get a first look at what the facility will look like, with construction expected to begin later this summer.
Sherwood described it as follows.
“Hospice will be quite unique in our community. We have an incredible site at Waterworks Park and hospice will be tucked in the woods and have a cottage-like feel.”
What will the facility look like?
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Land-locked STEGH at the crossroads: Rebuild or relocate?
In a deputation to city council this past Monday, members were updated on capacity issues at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. President and CEO Karen Davies stressed that ahead of the pandemic, hospital staff and administration were already struggling as they dealt with capacity issues.
She adds it was not abnormal for the hospital to be at 100 per cent occupancy or beyond.
As noted during the presentation, there were close to 7,800 admissions last year. The hospital has 179 beds, with 30 to 40 of those beds occupied by patients who, the belief is, should have outside care.
Davies points out, with the announcement of the EV gigaplant coming to the city – and with it significant population growth – that will only exacerbate matters.
“We’ve got a great story to tell,” reminds Davies. “We were at capacity ahead of the pandemic.
“We did well throughout the pandemic but again, as we talked about the other night (at the council meeting), we’re maximized in our space here and that’s with our current population base.
“And we know it’s growing and we know we’ve got some significant investments coming to Elgin county that are going to put more pressure on that.”
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‘Every job entails paperwork . . . but definitely the balance has shifted’ – Dr. Kellie Scott on the doctor shortage in Elgin and across Ontario
We hear disturbing stories about the doctor shortage in this province and across the country.
According to recent statistics, 2.2 million Ontario residents do not have a family doctor. And it’s not a problem confined to someone else’s backyard. In Elgin county last year, at least 7,000 residents are without a family doctor.
Quite often, it is individuals most vulnerable who have no access.
Just under 2,000 residents with the lowest incomes are particularly hard hit.
About 750 of those have mental health issues and approximately 360 have diabetes.
A condition that requires regular blood tests and medication renewals.
Many of these individuals end up in the emergency department because they have nowhere else to go.
“If you don’t have a family physician and you have an issue that needs to be addressed, you end up sometimes getting referred to a specialist for care that doesn’t need to be provided by a specialist and that just lengthens the wait list for everyone.”
At the beginning of May, we had an insightful conversation with Dr. Kellie Scott, a St. Thomas family physician.
She is also a member of the St. Thomas Elgin Health recruitment partnership.
