Transition House – an Update

After a few turbulent years (see links below), Transition House now has a new Executive director, Anne Newman – Anne started work just before the Covid-19 crisis started.  With social distancing required, and schools closed, residents were moved to a dormitory style arrangement at CCI. Since then, Transition House has been fully operational there and their 10 Chapel Street location has been closed.  On Thursday, June 25, Transition House held their Annual General Meeting and together with additional input from Anne, I can now provide an update. But first, let’s spell out what Transition House does.  First and foremost they provide short term emergency housing for adults.  Then they help clients move into affordable housing.  They are primarily funded by… Read complete articleTransition House – an Update

Hospital Slowly Returning to Normal

The first thing you might notice is that effective July 6th parking is no longer free.  As explained by Abhi Mukherjee, NHH’s Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, parking fees bring a net $750k per year so free parking could not be sustained for long.  When you go into the Hospital, you’ll notice “heightened cleaning practices” and be reminded to clean your hands.  But in another announcement, NHH explains that other services are being ramped up after almost three months of providing only emergency and high-priority surgeries and imaging exams.  Meanwhile hundreds of other tests, appointments and procedures were postponed for safety reasons, or – if appropriate – provided virtually.  But the Hospital has been busy providing Covid-19… Read complete articleHospital Slowly Returning to Normal

Update on Golden Plough Lodge

The biggest current County project is the rebuild of the Golden Plough Long Term Care Home with a budget of $80 million.  Approval was initiated in 2016 with design starting in 2018.  Completion is expected in the summer of 2022 with demolition of the old building to happen in 2023.  Construction should start this summer.  At 200,000 sq. ft., the new building will be double the size of the current lodge and will include 6000 sq. ft. devoted to an archive/museum facility which will relocate from their current space at the Library.  As well as all this, there will be changes to Courthouse road – ownership of the road will transfer from the Town to the County and this will… Read complete articleUpdate on Golden Plough Lodge

NHH Implements Virtual Visits

Visitors have been banned at Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) now for some time and although seemingly effective in fighting the pandemic it causes a lot of heartache for loved ones as well as those stuck in a hospital bed.  But if people in offices and at home can have virtual contact with others, why not in the Hospital?  It started as a trial with 50 participants but will now expand to all inpatients thanks to the donation of eight ipads by Grafton & Community Sports and Events Committee and an anonymous couple.  The technology used is Microsoft Teams and if you need help setting up your computer a member of NHH’s Virtual Visiting Team will be happy to work through… Read complete articleNHH Implements Virtual Visits

Update from Northumberland Hills Hospital

Northumberland has had relatively few cases of the Covid-19 virus so we can either call ourselves lucky or we are doing a good job – or more likely both.  The CEO of the local Hospital, Linda Davis, reports on what they are doing in their May newsletter which many would be getting – forgive me if this is repetitious. Linda says that NHH continues to provide essential services and asks that if “you or someone you care for needs emergency care, please do not postpone your visit. Your NHH team stands ready to get you the care you need with all the necessary precautions in place to keep you and your loved ones safe.” She reports on the steps that… Read complete articleUpdate from Northumberland Hills Hospital

Ed’s House Construction Update

Many construction projects are considered essential and one of these is Ed’s House – the new Hospice centre just north of Cobourg.   The Community Care newsletter shared news of progress and included some photos.  They quoted the fact that Ed’s House is considered an essential project and said that “Precautions, including physical distancing and frequent hand washing, are being taken on-site to ensure the health and safety of all workers.”  For those who are not aware of what Ed’s House is, it’s a Hospice – that is, a place where the terminally ill can have dignified and competent care with pleasant surroundings.  Cobourg News blog reported on the highly successful fundraising – see links below.  The project team is still… Read complete articleEd’s House Construction Update

Shooting Victim at Hospital

At around 10:45 Tuesday morning (24 March), a car delivered an “adult male” suffering from a gun-shot wound to the Northumberland Hills Hospital Emergency department.  Police were called and are investigating.  Their statement says that “this incident is being investigated by members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau, assisted by members of Uniform Patrol, Forensic Identification Services and Special Constables.  The investigation is in the early stages and investigators believe that this was not a random incident.”  The victim is reported to have “serious but non-life-threatening injuries”  And “the location of the shooting is unknown at this time.”  A photo is being circulated of the car that it’s believed dropped off the man – see below. Because of the crime, the… Read complete articleShooting Victim at Hospital

Vigil to Remember Overdose Losses

On Sunday afternoon in front of Victoria Hall,  Greenwood Coalition held a “community-led vigil for loved ones lost to overdose”. They called it “They Were Here”.  Led by David Sheffield, a steady stream of people spoke of their experiences – there was a lot of emotion and passion.  When I was there around 2:20 pm, there were about 35 people; some spoke and others were simply supportive.  Attendees were invited to “create and hang a flag of hope to commemorate a loved one who has died”. (See photos below).  Apart from talking about their personal experiences, some also spoke of the misunderstanding that the public seems to have.  Councillor Adam Bureau initiated Council’s actions on the opioid crisis and he… Read complete articleVigil to Remember Overdose Losses

Health Team gets funding for Community Paramedicine

The Ford Government last year announced that LHINs would be disbanded and instead we would have “Health Teams” and Northumberland was one of the first to form such a team.  One of their goals in the first year was to implement a Community Paramedicine program and now MPP David Piccini has announced that this will be funded by the Province to the tune of  $342,000.  The idea is to take advantage of skills that paramedics already have and do some pro-active health care.  So as well as paramedics responding to 911 calls, they will also do things like “assisting with diabetic care, doing medication assessment, providing flu vaccinations, conducting post-injury or illness evaluation, and other care functions”.  The overall intent… Read complete articleHealth Team gets funding for Community Paramedicine

Adult Fitness Park Gets Council Support

Since November 2016, Keith Oliver has been coming before Council to campaign for an adult Fitness Park and in May 2018, the Waterfront study included Outdoor Adult Fitness as one of its goals.  Since this was approved by council, Town support seems to be mandated.  Last June, Keith won Council support for help in applying to the Federal Government for a grant and also spoke of success in fundraising from the Cobourg Community.  He was not so successful in getting support in recent budget sessions but at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on 27 January 2020, he tried again and said that Council support was needed before other donors (such as Rotary) would contribute.  This time he succeeded in… Read complete articleAdult Fitness Park Gets Council Support