With all the knocks against the province’s coronavirus attack plan and vaccination roll-out, you have to wonder how much consultation there has been with the local health units and their medical officers of health?
In fact, how closely is the government listening to medical authorities at institutions like Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto and other experts in the field on a safe back-to-school policy?
You can point to the federal government for their handling of the vaccine itself, but is the shortage an easy target when your own program is likewise sputtering and subject to rapid and unexpected about turns?
At the grassroots level our local health unit, Southwestern Public Health, is being proactive and has approached the city to obtain use of Memorial Arena as a vaccination hub.
The matter is a late addition to Monday’s (March 1) council agenda.
As noted in city manager Wendell Graves’ report to members, “Attributes of the site include easy access, good parking and the ability to map out an operational floor plan that would allow for the greatest number of people to be vaccinated as expeditiously as possible.”
Tag Archives: Southwestern Public Health
Alma College Square: ‘Something interesting and unique’ appears to be more ho-hum and institutional
We’ve all seen ads like these featuring some product with the disclaimer, ‘May not be exactly as pictured’ or ‘Object appears larger for display purposes’.
Seems that may be the case with Phase 1 of the three-tower residential development rising up on the former Alma College property.
The renderings of the apartment buildings appear different than the original site plans approved by the city.
That was the focus of a lengthy Q&A during the Feb. 12 meeting of the site plan control committee held online with city staff and developer Michael Loewith and his team.
The bone of contention was whether the approved permit drawings for the Phase 1 building are substantially in conformance with the site plan agreement.
Absolutely not, argued Alma College watchdog Dawn Doty – who lives right across the street – and architect Ed van der Maarel, also a neighbour of the grandly named Alma College Square.
The 156-unit Phase 1 is scheduled for completion in 2022.
Doty has a front-row seat on what is transpiring on the Moore Street property and she noted during the meeting, “Looking at the original site plan drawings, what I’m seeing outside my window is tremendously different than what I first saw. Would you agree with that?”
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STEGH lacks ‘basic medical technology’ – CEO Robert Biron
The space is available and waiting, staff are trained and ready to go and the service could be up and running six months after approval.
The choke point in this essential service for St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital is provincial Ministry of Health approval.
At Monday’s (Feb. 8) meeting, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital president and CEO Robert Biron made a compelling presentation to council on the need to equip the facility with an MRI scanner.
Biron referred to it as “A basic medical technology for any community hospital.”
He added, “We are one of the few medium-sized hospitals in the province that does not provide the service.”
Biron continued, “We are one of the few counties in the province that does not have access to the service.”
Very curious indeed in that STEGH has been a designated stroke centre since 2016 but does not have a scanner that is required for treating stroke and is integral in the management of many colorectal and breast cancer cases.
Biron went on to note, “an MRI scanner is essential in the diagnosis and management of orthopedic conditions.”
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Thinking collectively in stopping ‘this scourge, sharps in this community that are not getting retrieved’
The 70 or so minutes discussing Southwestern Public Health’s sharps program this past Monday exceeded the length of the majority of council meetings in the past year.
And, when Mayor Preston wrapped up the discussion, nothing had been resolved as to why is it the city’s responsibility to undertake disposal of discarded sharps – hundreds of thousands of them each year – when it is the health unit that dispenses them.
And, that is not a misprint. In 2019, the health unit distributed about 438,000 of them throughout its coverage area with about a third of those being returned after use.
The health unit is proposing a collaborative partnership with the city whereby it would be responsible for disposing of the sharps at an estimated annual cost of $65,000 per year.
As Coun. Joan Rymal duly noted the city is already on the hook for about $100,000 annually for sharps disposal. The three or four large bins around the city need to be cleaned out several times a week because the numbers dropped off as opposed to the twice a month the health unit feels would suffice under the partnership.
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Stop skating around the issue: Is it time to open up Lake Margaret for recreational activities?
My, how words can come back around to bite you.
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about Lake Margaret attracting skaters of all ages for an afternoon of gliding across the frozen water.
A scene right out of a Tim Hortons’ tribute to life in Canada.
Which led to queries from several readers as to summertime use of the lake for fishing and canoeing.
As the signs lakeside warn and reiterated two weeks ago by Ross Tucker, Director of Parks, Recreation and Property Management, a big negatory to those warm-weather activities.
The decision to prohibit fishing in Lake Margaret was a recommendation of the 2010 Lake Margaret Environmental Plan.
It came up for discussion back in April of 2017 when Coun. Steve Wookey proclaimed, “In my world, there should be fishing and canoeing.” Continue reading
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A caring environment in a stable, permanent home is the foundation for transformation in people’s lives
This past Monday was a busy day for Mayor Joe Preston as he noted the city was able to undertake a decade’s worth of work in a day.
Preston was referring to the city’s three-year strategic plan setting out priorities, guiding principles, goals and commitments as laid out at the Dec. 14 reference committee meeting.
One of the pillars of that plan is creation of a compassionate community and the commitment to build an emergency shelter for the homeless. It is to be constructed in a single location and be open by September of this year.
Well on Monday the city released a blueprint as it moves forward on its compassionate community strategic objective.
It’s a sweeping paper with many more objectives than just a homeless shelter.
The most immediate action point involves the city entering into a memorandum of understanding with Indwell Community Homes to develop supportive housing projects.
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Working through COVID-19: ‘We’ve all got to be on the same page’ – St. Thomas Police Chief Chris Herridge
With the province now in a shutdown scenario for at least 28 days and the onus on residents to stay at home except for essential tasks, does that mean city police are lurking, waiting to collar unsuspecting citizens caught in the act?
That’s far from the reality, advised St. Thomas Police Chief Chris Herridge in a conversation yesterday (Friday), one day after the order came into effect.
“We’re trying to put out as much information as we can to keep the public informed,” assured Herridge. “As the information comes in, we feel, if it’s applicable, to keep the public informed. Because if they’re informed, they know what to do.
“And, if they know what to do that makes our job of vital enforcement so much easier. Even today we put out a Q&A.”
You can find it on the St. Thomas Police Facebook page.
“We thought it appropriate to continue to inform our community as best as possible.
“Let’s just stay at home. We’re going to carry on business as usual as best we can, given the restrictions that we have to live under.
“We had a similar situation in the past. We had a state of emergency back in the spring and all we’re asking people to do is abide by the restrictions in place.”
“We’re not going to be pulling people over randomly to do a COVID test. We’re not going to be stopping people randomly to check if you’re staying home.
“If there’s something that’s obvious, something that’s blatant and in violation of the current order then yes, we will deal with that.
“And we’ll take the same approach as we would take along with bylaw enforcement as well. A lot of the calls we’ve been triaging and sending along to bylaw enforcement, our partners at city hall.
“But, our community has been very, very good. We’ve been very fortunate. I know our case count has gone up since September, but I applaud the residents of St. Thomas for the excellent work they have been doing with compliance.”
And, these tighter restrictions into February are not something city hall or police have instituted, they were mandated by the Doug Ford government.
“We have to follow, just like any other regulation, legislation or law that is implemented. And the police have to enforce it and we will use our discretion as best we can, given the circumstances.
“But the bottom line is, we need to get through this pandemic and we need to try and save lives and keep people healthy as best as we can. And, we all need to work together as one big team here.
“I know not everyone is on the same page with the pandemic and COVID, but it’s happening and people are dying and people are getting sick and this is not slowing down any.
“This is starting to wear thin on people. We’re approaching a year now having to deal with this and we’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetime.
“We’re definitely being tested here. Something that may not have triggered a person six months or a year ago, those little things are now starting to trigger people.”
The burn factor is something Herridge has to deal with internally at headquarters on CASO Crossing.
“So I respect and understand how the public feels. So, I just ask let’s all try and work together and abide by these restrictions and we’re going to come out of this.”
“I’m seeing it wearing on our officers. It’s a long go for them as well. When you throw that on top of everything else they have to deal with, it’s challenging.”
It’s not just the front-line officers, reminds Herridge.
“It filters through the entire organization. There’s clerical work, there’s prisoner transport work, there’s court work and it all involves the entire organization.
“We try to do a number of things around here to keep the morale up and ensure we’re looking after all of our staff. Communication is key.
“So I respect and understand how the public feels. I just ask, let’s all try and work together and abide by these restrictions and we’re going to come out of this.
“And, we’re going to come out of this better. But, it’s going to take some time. During that time we’re working through this, we’ve all got to be on the same page.”
In addition to the police Q&A on their Facebook page, a complete breakdown of what is deemed essential and what is not can be found on the myFM website at https://www.stthomastoday.ca/2021/01/15/shedding-light-on-the-provinces-stay-at-home-order/.
STAY AT HOME FROM A CITY HALL POINT OF VIEW
The above segment lays out the police playbook on enforcing the stay-at-home orders, but what is the approach at city hall through bylaw enforcement?
We spoke with city manager Wendell Graves on Thursday, the day this came into effect, for an update.
“Since Day 1 of our pandemic experience since last March, our police and bylaw enforcement have been working very closely together so that the roll-out of any enforcement is on the same level. And that’s been working extremely well.
“We have COVID cases in our community but we haven’t had any major flare-ups and that’s a testament to the regard that everyone is having for it.”
“Our approach is to try and do the education piece first and if we do get a complaint, then certainly someone is going to follow up and see what’s happening.
“If we see something blatantly going on, then they will address that. For the most part, we act on bylaw complaints.”
The approach will not be unlike the week-long education campaign undertaken late last year with downtown businesses. That blitz involved a cooperative effort with city police and Southwestern Public Health.
“We found just a great response from the community,” advised Graves. “It reinforces the face our bylaw folks certainly aren’t working independently of law enforcement in our relationship with police.
“We really have had wonderful response from the community, in terms of complying. You always get the odd pebble in our shoe we have to address.
“We have COVID cases in our community but we haven’t had any major flare-ups and that’s a testament to the regard that everyone is having for it.”
Circling back to that education blitz with local businesses, we received a wrap-up analysis following the campaign from St. Thomas Police corporate communications coordinator Tanya Calvert, who praised the efforts of small business owners and their regard for the safety of staff and customers.
But we haven’t heard anything back from the health unit which was dealing with the big box stores and businesses outside the city.
Will city bylaw enforcement deal with possible infractions at those bigger stores allowed to stay open during the orders, at the expense of smaller, local outlets?
“They could be,” advised Graves.
We’ll be avoiding those larger outlets to help support the downtown and smaller businesses around the city but feedback on your experience at the big-box stores will be welcome.
SKATING (SAFELY) THROUGH THE PANDEMIC
Driving along Elm Street past Pinafore Park on a cold, clear winter day, you couldn’t help miss people enjoying that great Canadian past-time, skating outdoors on a frozen pond.
Well seems the hot spot (not literally) this winter is Lake Margaret. Last weekend it was populated with skaters of various ages enjoying all manner of ice activities.
Even though several days earlier a dog and its owner nearly met their fate on that very same spot.
Now, if you’re familiar with the lake, then you’ve seen the posted signs prohibiting swimming, fishing and boating.
The lake is now owned by the city, so we touched bases with Ross Tucker this week to get the official word on gliding across the ice.
“When we re-did our parks and rec bylaw we were silent on the idea of skating on all of our water in the city,” advised Tucker, Director of Parks, Recreation and Property Management,
“There’s no bylaw that says you can or cannot skate on the ice. We do have going up on the recommendation of our insurance company is a sign saying, ‘Danger Thin Ice.’
“How do you say you can’t skate on Lake Margaret, but come to Pinafore? There’s always an inherent risk with everything.”
“The age-old days of saying ‘use at own risk’ is not an acceptable term anymore. We’ve really been working with our insurance company on it.
“Even though we don’t test it, we understand people do test the ice. Somebody’s been checking the ice.
“It’s a fairly shallow body, and no one was on Pinafore on the weekend and it’s quite a bit deeper and hadn’t frozen through and there was more water movement.
“There were a lot of people on Lake Margaret and, in all honesty, it looked like they were having a great time.”
There’s nothing that says Canada like braving the chill and skating around a frozen body of water. Why it’s a Tim Hortons’ moment.
“How do you say you can’t skate on Lake Margaret, but come to Pinafore? There’s always an inherent risk with everything.”
However, don’t savour the arrival of spring and outdoor fun on the water.
“Those activities are in the bylaw,” advised Tucker. “Council has the ability in the bylaw to designate usage.”
You can, added Tucker, use canoes or kayaks on other city water bodies.
“And, the reason people are on Lake Margaret right now,” noted Tucker, “is there’s no snow. It’s not a perfect ice surface but for kids playing and, certainly during this global pandemic, it’s so tough on people. You have to have something to do.”
So, check the ice and skate on.
Related post:
https://ianscityscope.com/2018/06/02/for-steve-wookey-is-this-the-best-way-to-go-fishing-for-votes/
GAME TIME 5 P.M.
After toying with various start times over the past few years, city council has settled on 5 p.m. for its regularly scheduled meetings. A notice of motion will be before council Monday to make the change official.
And reference committee meetings will no longer be stand-alone, explains city clerk Wendell Graves.
“What we’re going to do is envelop our reference committee discussions into council meetings. We will have those broad discussions at the same time versus breaking up into two separate meetings.”
Those reference committee meetings had been held before council gatherings and then recently were moved to afterward.
There is value to those committee meetings and, in the past year, much has come forward from those detailed discussions.
“We want that to still happen,” advises Graves. “It will be the same kind of format when we get to that point in the agenda.”
As has been the case up to now, each reference committee meeting had a defined agenda, quite often involving input from staff and outside sources.
“When we get to that point in the agenda we will identify that this will be a discussion topic.”
The 5 p.m. start time is not necessarily a convenient start time for the public since many people will either be at work or on their way home, meaning you will have to watch the archived live stream on the city hall webpage.
“It’s because we’re trying to envelop all of these sessions together without having disjointed breaks in them,” reiterates Graves.
The onus is now on the city’s IT people to ensure a good live stream of those meetings is always available and archived in a prompt fashion.
Not always the case in recent months.
THE READER’S WRITE
Last week’s item on the city’s pollution control plant raised a stink with a few readers. Carrie Hedderson Smith stresses in her Facebook comment, “the saga continues.”
“I think Justin Lawrence should live in the courthouse area, try and sit outside or go for a walk and see if he can accomplish and enjoy the action without feeling like he has to throw up.
“It may be improved but it is far from resolved. Colder weather may have dampened down the smell a bit, trust us, we’ve called the ministry and so have the neighbours, the saga continues.”
Chris Smith-Heidt has empathy for Carrie.
“Odours are strong in the Memorial Arena area as well.”
The area around the St. Thomas Elevated Park is also not immune, notes Deb Hardy.
“We live nearer to the elevated park on Sunset and rarely smell it in the cooler months, but come summer, pew!”
And, Dave Mathers has a more personal relationship with the plant.
“I cut the grass, was a spare operator and did general clean-up at the sewage plant for two summers over sixty years ago. There were complaints even then about the smells. The good news? You get used to it!! LOL”
Questions and comments may be emailed to City Scope
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And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.
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Even with the vaccines, the coronavirus “is not something that we can leave and forget about in the immediate future” – Dr. Joyce Lock
While the new COVID-19 case numbers have retreated somewhat at the back end of this week, they remain disturbingly high. In the Southwestern Public Health region as of Friday, two key indicators are red-flagged.
The percent positivity rate has risen sharply to six per cent, with a number above five meaning there is widespread community transmission at this moment.
As recently as mid-October the number was well below one per cent.
And, the ongoing cumulative confirmed case rate per 100,000 population sits at 166.4 for the health unit’s coverage area. For St. Thomas. it is even higher at 169.6, although it has dropped significantly this week.
Any number above 40 per 100,000 population is enough to keep the region in the COVID-19 Red-Control or Grey-Lockdown zone. Continue reading
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Moving St. Thomas forward despite the coronavirus: ‘There’s no shutting the key off on this bus’ – Mayor Joe Preston
As city residents transitioned from Christmas celebrations to life under a minimum 28-day province-wide shutdown, we chatted with Mayor Joe Preston on how this will impact the administration’s game plan for 2021.
Considering council and administration accomplished much in a year we would otherwise like to forget.
That includes a new transit system that will begin to take shape this month, the impressive number of building permits issued in 2020, construction projects underway like the residential development on the Alma College site, new industries like Element5 springing up, affordable housing projects and a new civic park project to be developed on the site of the former police headquarters.
Always upbeat, Preston began by pointing out city hall will remain open during this time while other municipalities have chosen to keep their administrative offices closed.
