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

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